Sexual harassment appeal thrown out


A LANDMARK anti-discrimination ruling about the sexual harassment of neighbours has been upheld in the Supreme Court in Hobart.

The court has thrown out an appeal against a decision ordering a Hobart man to pay $4000 damages to his former transsexual neighbour.

Justice Alan Blow agreed with the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal which ruled in June last year that transsexual Roslyn Houston be compensated after she was verbally abused, called a "sicko" and a "pervert" and poked in the chest by her neighbour.

The judgment was not only a victory for Ms Houston but it extended the scope of the accommodation section of anti-discrimination law to include neighbours as well as landlords.