A former employee at Southern Cross Austereo’s 2Day FM network in Sydney has accused a male station executive of raping him.
Fairfax Media is reporting that the staffer, Blake Phillips (main photo), who was never on-air, resigned his position in 2016, but claims the alleged attack occurred in 2013.
The report says Phillips made the claim via a social media post he published yesterday. However, the accused executive was not named.
Phillips said in the post that he complained to management at the time but did not pursue legal action, which he says he now regrets.
In the blog, Phillips wrote: “Being raped by your manager is horrific enough but the real trauma can be in how you recover from that. So much of what I was proud of is gone, and despite any of the whispers around the industry … I was never paid out, not a cent. I hope that is clear.”
The accused was apparently terminated by SCA, however, it is believed he is now employed at a rival network.
SCA has said in a statement: “In 2013, on becoming aware of the incident, SCA acted promptly by investigating and terminating the employment of the manager.
“SCA supported Blake – including assisting him with his conversations with the police and providing him with extensive counselling. This support was ongoing for the duration of his remaining two and a half year employment, including his request to be relocated to another office within the company.
“We take incidents of this nature very seriously and any inappropriate behaviour by members of our staff to be completely unacceptable … we have and are continuing to assist the police with any further inquiries they may have.”
Phillips also wrote: “Just before Christmas I re-opened my case with new detectives and will be standing by the truth. I am exploring all options of the law to set precedence [sic] for others who may find themselves somewhere in a similar lonely dark journey that can take years to recover from, if at all.”
