The Case

Mr Lal commenced proceedings in the NSW District Court, claiming he had sustained a psychological injury as a result of three instances of workplace bullying over a 5-year period by employees of Australian Administration Services Pty Ltd (AAS).

These claims were:

Claim 1: Mr Lal claimed he had been bullied by a female manager who was critical of his performance. He claimed she was aggressive and harsh. AAS provided Mr Lal with counselling and leave, and then assigned him to another manager.

Claim 2: Mr Lal alleged he had been bullied by another female colleague who he claimed had bullied and intimidated him because she whinged and was dismissive. AAS relocated Mr Lal upon receipt of a medical certificate requesting his relocation.

Claim 3: Mr Lal and another employee had an argument in the workplace. The other employee apologised and the matter appeared to be settled as Mr Lal did not make a complaint to AAS. However, Mr Lal later claimed it was bullying and that it was one of the reasons he had suffered a psychological injury.

The Verdict

The District Court examined whether the conduct amounted to bullying. Bullying is defined as: “Repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety”. The Court made the following findings in relation to the three bullying claims outlined above:

Claim 1: In examining the totality of the evidence, the manager’s conduct did not amount to bullying and the manager could direct Mr Lal in his employment about his work. The fact that Mr Lal did not like this was of no consequence.

Claim 2: The Court found that the female employee’s “whinging” did not amount to bullying. The Court said Mr Lal’s allegations were more about his interpretation of her conduct than the actual conduct.

Claim 3: The Court held that a one-off incident does not amount to bullying. The behaviour must be repeated to constitute bullying.

As the Court found that Mr Lal had not been bullied on any of the occasions, AAS was not negligent and hence had not caused Mr Lal’s alleged psychological injury.

The Lesson

To reduce the risk of such claims in your business, you should take the following steps:

• make sure you have appropriate workplace policies in place that deal with bullying, and that employees are trained in relation to these policies;
• follow your workplace policies consistently;
• ensure that any allegations of bullying are properly investigated;
• watch out for any potential risks in the workplace, such as disputes or disharmony among workers, and act early to control those risks; and
• even if the behaviour does not amount to bullying, ensure that any behaviour that causes a risk to an employee’s mental or physical health is controlled and, if possible, eliminated.

Please note: Case law is reported as correct and current at time of publishing. Be aware that cases in lower courts may be appealed and decisions subsequently overturned.