Several text messages showed the woman asking for work, to which Mr Sippel replied “give me your pussy … maybe you give me incentive to give u job”.
In another incident during her time working for Mr Sippel in 2018, the woman asked to borrow his lawnmower and he replied with words to the effect of “I’ll give you my mower for free, it is worth $500, if you give me sex”.
Mr Sippel, who represented himself, disputed this account of the incident, saying the woman had asked for assistance with clean-up of the yard three times, but he declined.
On numerous occasions, Mr Sippel said his comments were “banter” and disputed the woman’s account of groping, claiming she had hugged him and grabbed him through his shorts, saying “one day but not today”.
He admitted to making comments such as “you make me horny” and explained this as typical banter at the laundromat.
The woman had previously been subjected to domestic violence and suffered psychological harm by her ex-husband.
Ms McLennan ordered Mr Sippel to pay the woman almost $16,000 for economic loss, $30,000 for general damages and $5000 for aggravated damages.
“These acts occurred over an extended period of time. [The woman’s] clear protestations at the time were ignored,” she said.
She also said there were occasions the woman was denied work upon rejecting Mr Sippel’s advances, and this jeopardised her ability to provide for her children.
