exclusive: Why the DJs Sexual Harrassment Case Crumbled



Frank Monte on 'Larry King Live'

 When the Social Shuttle revealed  that noted private eye Frank Monte ( "the best in the business" according to US chat show host Larry King on CNN) had been hired to look into the background of the former David Jone's publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk, the news set of a firestorm of speculation.



Kristy Fraser-Kirk



In the now famous case , Fraser-Kirk claimed she had been sexually harassed by David Jone's CEO Mark McInnes and she issued a lawsuit against him claiming $37M in damages.

Last Tuesday she settled with the accused and the DJ's department store chain for $850,000 after negotiations in the Human Rights Commission. Both sides claimed victory while McInnes denied any wrongdoing.

The Shuttle attended a small gathering on Friday with a bunch of Rumpole types and the subject was hot gossip.

The Daily Telegraph claimed that Fraser-Kirk had been offered a settlement of $8M very early on when the lawsuit was announced.

Our legal eagles claimed a correction-the actual sum offered was $9M. So why did Fraser-Kirk  settle so quickly for such a small sum by comparison ?

As the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Saturday, a mysterious email had been in circulation (and was seen by tSS) that purported to show just who Frank Monte's client was. Both David Jones and Mark McInnes had denied hiring the gumshoe.

Enter McInnes best friend and gym partner, the general manager of a travel agency that arranged most of DJ's corporate travel. McInnes is godfather to that travel agent's son.

A spokesman for McInne's denied the ex DJ's boss had any knowledge of the travel agent's actions in hiring Monte. Perhaps he was just being a very helpful friend.

Frank Monte & Sharon Sargeant

But the talk over whisky sours at our lawyers bash was of the rapid deterioration in the Fraser-Kirk's case from the day it was announced Monte had entered the frame.

One of our lawyers claimed he had heard talk about evidence uncovered  that would not go down well in a court and which would prove highly embarrassing.

It was certainly clear that after Monte had done a round of media interviews, the case for David Jones & McInnes strengthened.

"Give us more details" we asked but our source wasn't revealing much.

His enigmatic reply :
"David Jones really should be couriering a gold plated AMEX store credit card to Frank Monte right now "

              
 On the subject of the World's Most Famous Private Eye  ( as the New York Times called him) we have now encountered Monte out on the town at two swish balls with his ex-fiancee Sharon Sargeant on his arm.

The pair were at the Black & White Ball  2 weeks ago where Sargeant caused a stir in her striking red sequin outfit ( the theme was black and white!).

On Friday night they attended actress Rachel Ward's  Mother Of All Ball's "Rock The Kasbah". Whilst Monte easily slipped into the role ( he originally comes from Alexandria) Ms Sargeant channeled Hollywood in a striking silver body hugging frock that drew a wide-eyed "Mama Mia!" from Ward's husband, actor Bryan Brown.

Has Sharon moved back into Monte's Potts Point luxury Ikon apartment ?. She wasn't saying. But she has sold her Red Velvet escort agency to an American corporation. The couple had split when news of her ownership of the agency was revealed by a tabloid.

And future plans ? " I'm going to be launching my own line of family friendly adult products" says Sargeant. The mind boggles.

The Shuttle Scoops The World Again !

Following our exclusive story below about top private eye Frank Monte who has announced he will sue the former publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk, the rest of Australia's media has finally caught up today with the story sweeping the majority of news outlets including every TV network and newspaper.

Fraser-Kirk is suing her former boss Mark McInnes and David Jones department store for 'sexual harassment' in a $37M lawsuit. Both worked at the top department store where McInnes was on a rumoured $8M yearly salary.

Monte announced sometime ago ( again in another Social Shuttle scoop) that had been hired to do background checks on the public relations officer. Whilst some media outlets speculated just who had hired the high flying gumshoe-the Shuttle was shown exclusive background material the ace investigator had uncovered. It makes for sensational reading.

Monte, pictured here in New York where he drives a Ferrari, has offices in the USA and Australia and has been featured on top US talk shows including Howard Stern, Larry King and Oprah Winfrey.

Some questioned why Monte would announce that he was investigating someone when presumably discretion and secrecy is needed in his trade. But a fellow private eye told us today that the disclosure was probably part of a well planned attack upon the case against DJs and McInnes, and that Monte whilst being extremely high profile employs a number of covert operators with their boss overseeing their work.

When Kristy Fraser-Kirk's solicitors announced the multi-million dollar lawsuit in August on the day David Jones launched their Spring fashion shows, the tide seemed to turn slightly against her from sympathy to cynicism.

Monte announced today he will sue Fraser-Kirk for libel after stories appeared in the media regarding his surveillance work. He has hired the top barrister Clive Evatt. However the Shuttle had wind of the story 24 hours before the announcement.

As they say-this show will run and run and as one astute reader of the News Corp Melbourne tabloid Herald Sun said upon reading of Monte's lawsuit :

"This is a hoot! Better than the stuff Hollywood turns out." !

"I Wish He Had Touched Me Up !"

That was designer Alannah Hill's claim today when she showed off her wares at the David Jones department store in the spring / summer fashion collection.
This was following the announcement that former DJ's publicist  Kristy Fraser-Kirk's  has launched a $37million lawsuit against the firm following allegations the CEO Mark McInnes "touched her up".

It's the largest claim of it's kind and Fraser-Kirk is asking for 5% of DJ's takings and of McInne's wages during his tenure as boss. She says she will donate the money to charity. Good luck!

This morning's parade at the Sydney flagship store was pretty well packed despite the absence of DJ's mascot model Miranda Kerr who is recovering from her honeymoon after wedding Orlando Bloom.

Nicole Trunfio

She twittered the troops at DJ's at lunchtime :"Hey guys, Thank you so much for chatting with me today. I hope you all have the most amazing day and night."

Alannah says of McInnes: " I threw myself at him. He told me he didn't want to mix business with pleasure." Yeah, sure.

Kristy Fraser-Kirk says McInnes phoned her one night wanting to have dinner with her and said he could have had sex with a brunette the night before.

"Yes I was the brunette, yes, yes I was the brunette," Hill said."He could have bedded me but he chose the other one. He is dreamy". Ahhh..sounds just like she was dreaming .

In place of Kerr there were 4 other 'supermodels'- Nicole Trunfio ,Abbey-Lee Kershaw,  Catherine McNeil and Alexandra Agoston.

Meanwhile as we blog, CH 9's Today Tonight show is screening some ham fisted replies after they interviewed a host of designers at the parade today on the controversy. 2 hapless PR people unsuccessfully tried to snatch a newspaper that ran a headline on the matter out of the reporter's hands .Go to the website and watch the video at the right titled "David Jones Backlash". Why didn't they prep these  PR folk beforehand ?. Didn't people like Megan Gale and designer Alex Perry realise the press was out in force and they would be asked difficult questions ?