Twiggy Forrest's mining giant rocked by rape and stalking claims as women workers launch class action

By CHARLOTTE KARP, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 03:37, 25 June 2026 | Updated: 03:56, 25 June 2026 Female workers are suing billionaire Twiggy Forrest's mining company over claims they were raped, sexually assaulted and stalked - and managers tried to cover it up. The details were laid bare in a landmark class action against Fortescue Metals Group lodged by law firm JGA Saddler in the Federal Court in Melbourne on Thursday. It comes after similar cases filed in 2024 against Rio Tinto and BHP, which included claims of widespread sexual harassment, sexual violence and discrimination. JGA Saddler special counsel Paris Hamrey told media she spoke to thousands of women for those two cases, and Fortescue 'kept coming up'. 'The conduct at Fortescue does seem to be as bad, if not worse,' she said. Claims against Fortescue include women being warned not to wash their underwear in communal laundry facilities because male colleagues would steal them. Some women said their male co-workers stalked them 'like an animal' while going to the toilet in the bush, and then followed them back to their rooms. One man said to a female colleague: ‘Why don’t you f*** the crew, you will make yourself feel better.' Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest (pictured) owns Fortescue Metals Group. He is not personally accused of any wrongdoing  A class action has been filed against Fortescue When sexual advances were rejected, the women were allegedly subjected to sexual assault, violence and retaliation. Those who lodged complaints were allegedly dismissed, demoted, or blacklisted from the mining industry.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.