An Australian woman is suing a luxury United Arab Emirates resort after she was jailed for adultery when she complained of being drugged and raped by three men.



Alica Gali, from Brisbane, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after an assault by three co-workers while drinking at the Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort staff bar in Fujairah, UAE in June 2008.



After reporting the incident to police, Ms Gali was jailed for adultery and served eight months before being pardoned in March 2009 and returning to Australia.



At a hearing in Brisbane Supreme Court on Friday, Maurice Blackburn lawyers were granted leave to sue the hotel, alleging Ms Gali's employer breached its workplace obligations by failing to have systems in place to protect their workers against assault.



Maurice Blackburn claims the hotel encouraged staff to drink alcohol in the staff bar without a permit, creating an environment where it was easy for a drink to be spiked.



In the UAE it is illegal to have sex outside of marriage or drink without a permit.



One basis for the firm taking action in Australia is that Alicia took a contract with the company while she was in Queensland.



"Alicia's employer has let her down in the most terrible, terrible of ways," Maurice Blackburn associate Melissa Payne said.



"A company like this should know better.



"There are many things they could have done and should have done to protect Alicia.



"These include having segregated secure quarters for its female employees and providing adequate induction and training as to the local laws and customs for its foreign employees.



"This resort promotes itself as 'paradise on earth' but it certainly wasn't paradise for Alicia."



According to Ms Payne, Ms Gali has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, claustrophobia and nightmares as a result of the incident and her eventual imprisonment.



In a statement, Ms Gali said she wanted to warn other women about the danger of working in countries where laws were "archaic."



"I still feel angry and upset and it's distressing because I was a victim in all of this and I was punished – the laws have to change to protect women and give them rights and the Australian government should use its influence to push for changes to laws," the statement read.



"The UAE is being promoted hugely here as a tourism destination.



"They are not complying with human rights, women's rights and migrant workers' rights."



Ms Gali said she thought she would feel safe and protected in the employ of an international hotel group but believes she was not given the correct advice and no one from the company helped her when she was charged and imprisoned.



According to Ms Gali alcohol is provided to tourists despite a lack of a permit.



"The only time they enforce drinking laws is when you get involved in another situation that involves the law – and that's what happened to me."



She stated she did not want the incident to be manipulated into an anti-Muslim or anti-Arab attack.



"The men involved were foreign nationals, they were not from the Middle East.



"Two were from India and one from Mauritius."



Maurice Blackburn believes the three men were imprisoned as a result of the assault.



The firm will be drawing on human rights and labour law experts as well as UAE legal experts as part of their case.



The parent company of Le Meridien, Starwood Hotels, has been contacted for comment.