A sexual harassment complaint has been laid against Prime Minister John Key, seeking compensation for the waitress in the ponytail pulling scandal.
The complaint was filed this morning by private prosecutor Graham McCready.
Mr McCready’s complaint alleges that Mr Key breached Section 62 (b) of the Human Rights Act,. He is seeking “considerable compensation” for Amanda Bailey and “if she does not want it I ask for the money be given to Women’s Refuge”.
Ms Bailey wrote a damning post on the Daily Blog, revealing Mr Key’s continuous aptitude for pulling her hair when visiting the Parnell cafe where she works.
She likened his behaviour to “school yard bullying” and said she felt powerless and humiliated.
Mr Key apologised for his behaviour by sending two bottles of pinot noir to Ms Bailey and later accepted that it was not appropriate in hindsight and that he thought it was in the “context of practical jokes”.
In the wake of the revelations, many prominent people and groups have weighed in, mostly in defence of Ms Bailey and ridiculing the Prime Minister.
Political analyst Bryce Edwards told TV ONE’s Breakfast programme this morning that Mr Key may struggle to recover from damages incurred by his ponytail tugging.
“A lot of people will be laughing at John Key, that’s harder to recover from,” Mr Edwards said.
Today, Ms Bailey has alleged she was duped by a journalist at the NZ Herald, and comments and photos were used without her permission.
The journalist, Rachel Glucina, tweeted this morning about the claims, posting “this is utterly not true” and that she will “be responding in due course”.
Herald Editor Shayne Currie has responded to ONE News about Ms Bailey’s accusations, saying “none of what is stated is accurate”.