News about Joseph Lyons

A woman who worked for one of Australia's most exclusive men's only clubs, where females are forbidden from joining and can only dine as guests, is suing the 128-year-old institution for'sex discrimination.' Sharyne Railton, who served as a members' service manager at the top Melbourne Savage Club for four months this year, is suing for more than $30,000 in damages. Ms Railton argued that she and other female employees were threatened and yelled inside the strict jacket-and-tie dress code club, which is a pillar for Melbourne's male judges, barristers, company executives, and powerbrokers. The invitation-only establishment, which is nestled in behind Melbourne's Collins Street, has walls decorated with portraits of recent prime ministers, such as Australia's longest-serving prime minister Sir Robert Menzies, and instead of aircon has punkahs, the hand-operated ceiling fan of colonial India. Sarath Fernando, the founder of Savage Club, prosecutors, accusing her and others and firing her after she wrote a written complaint to President Graeme Billings. In the past, the club, which has its own motto and a "boys" drinking program, has said, "We have a long-standing tradition that everything stays inside the club."