By Daina Beth Solomon

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – The head of global mining group Rio Tinto pledged to act if wrongdoing was discovered following the filing of sexual harassment lawsuits against the company.

Brisbane-based law firm JGA Saddler this week filed a class action against Rio and BHP Group, alleging widespread and systemic sexual harassment and discrimination at Australian mine sites.

The lawyers allege both companies have used confidentiality agreements to prevent female employees from speaking about sexual harassment at work.

BHP and Rio said they do not currently use NDAs when dealing with sexual harassment allegations.

Speaking to Reuters, Jakob Stausholm, the chief executive of Rio Tinto, pledged to respond to wrongdoing.

"If something that is not okay is happening, it's unacceptable. And we'll do everything to avoid that," Stausholm said in an interview on Thursday.

"I was devastated when I read the news the other morning," he told Reuters.

BHP issued a statement on Wednesday saying it apologised to anyone who has ever experienced any form of harassment at the company.

The lawsuit was filed after Rio last month released an external report showing cases of rape and sexual assault persist at its mines.

The report was an update to its cultural assessment conducted in early 2022 that outlined a culture of bullying, harassment and racism across its operations.

Rio has implemented a series of changes to improve workers' conditions but has said there is more work to do.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon, additional reporting by Clara Denina; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Keith Weir)