An ACT public servant who claimed she suffered a psychological injury because of bullying and harassment has lost a bid for compensation. The woman, who worked for ACT Health since 2002, claimed she suffered a “major depressive disorder” after a meeting over complaints she had been rude and disrespectful to other staff. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has now upheld a decision by Comcare to refuse compensation to the woman who claimed she suffered a psychological injury which developed as a result of “bullying and harassment by [a] senior officer”. Comcare accepted the woman did suffer a single episode major depressive disorder which was to a significant degree contributed to by her employment with ACT Health, the AAT judgment said. The tribunal was told the woman had a meeting with her manager and her manager’s manager where she told about complaints that she had dealt with some staff in a “rude and disrespectful manner”. In upholding Comcare’s decision to refuse the woman compensation, the tribunal found the meeting and what her superiors did at the meeting amounted to “reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner in respect of [her] employment”. The tribunal found because the meeting was “reasonable administrative action take in a reasonable manner”, her disease was “excluded from the definition of injury” meaning Comcare was not liable to pay her compensation. The tribunal found the meeting could have been “conducted more reasonably” such as by allowing the woman to bring a support person with her, raising positive aspects of her work performances or asking her if she wanted the meeting adjourned when she became upset. “But the fact that the meeting could have been conducted more reasonably does not make it unreasonable,” the tribunal found.
