FWC Dismisses its First Bullying Case
Friday 20 June 2014 @ 2.11 p.m. | Industrial Law
The Fair Work Commission has heard its first workplace bullying case under its new jurisdiction and has dismissed the claim in the case of Ms SB [2014] FWC 2104.
Facts
An application was made by a team manager, SB, alleging unreasonable behaviour on the part of her team, particularly one employee, CC. CC denied the allegations of unreasonable behaviour and in fact, had earlier made her own bullying allegations against SB prior to the immediate claim. The employer had conducted its own investigation into the two competing claims and had found that the application by CC was in part justified but that by SB was unsubstantiated. SB argued that this finding was all part of a campaign to bully her.
SB further argued that she received a lack of management support for her grievances and that this resulted in an ongoing risk to her health and safety. The employer argued that there was no evidence of a repeated unreasonable conduct by CC and others in the team.
Decision of the FWC
Ultimately, the FWC found that while the behaviour was bordering on unreasonable, it still fell outside the scope of bullying behaviour as defined by the Fair Work Act.
Commissioner Hampton explained:
“Some of the behaviour … was bordering upon unreasonable but not such as to fall within the scope of bullying behaviour as defined by the Act. In particular, I cannot be satisfied, based upon the evidence … that the limited degree of unreasonable behaviour by the individuals concerned was such that it created a risk to health and safety.”
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