Sacking a mental health nurse who “tagged” two work colleagues to a sexually offensive video on his Facebook page was too harsh, the Fair Work Commission has ruled. Commissioner Michelle Bissett found Bendigo Health Care nurse Michael Renton showed an “appalling lack of judgment” when he posted a video of an obese woman in her underwear dropping her stomach on the back of a man on all fours while saying “how heavy is that” and “a little horsey”. Mr Renton had then “tagged” two co-workers in a comment joking that the video was the male colleague “getting slammed” by the female colleague at work. That same day, Mr Renton admitted he placed five blobs of sorbolene cream and tissues on the male worker’s desk. Bendigo alleged the props were to make it look like the male worker or someone else had masturbated at his desk. The female colleague had become distressed by the post and the male colleague complained to human resources. Bendigo Health Care fired Mr Renton, who was an employee of almost 20 years, for serious misconduct. Mr Renton argued the sorbolene blobs were a practical joke and said it was not reasonable for the female colleague to be offended by the Facebook post, which he claimed was not sexually explicit. Commissioner Bissett said Mr Renton’s actions had affected the health and safety of his co-workers by exposing them to humiliation and potential ridicule at work. “His actions were crass, careless and showed an absence of judgement.” The Facebook post, which was visible “far and wide” including to at least 68 co-workers, also risked adversely affecting Bendigo Health’s reputation. The commissioner noted that once Mr Renton tagged a person on Facebook that allowed friends of the tagged person to see the post. The Facebook friends of anyone who commented could also see the post. “This consequence of posting on Facebook is so often overlooked but cannot be ignored.” It is possible to use Facebook security settings to restrict access to tagged posts but many users do not. She found that “slamming”, while not sexually explicit, had strong sexual overtones. “If the video was of a person slamming a door the context, and therefore meaning, would be quite different.” She said Mr Renton “should have listened to the voice in his head that suggested [the female colleague] might have been offended by the post and, having done so, not proceeded with the post”. “Unfortunately, he did not and the consequences for him and others are far reaching.” Mr Renton’s placing blobs of sorbolene cream on the male colleague’s desk was a “boorish” act that “compounded his Facebook misdeed”. While she accepted the male colleague had also made “crass and immature” Facebook posts , she said those were private and did not implicate the workplace or suggest sexual activity. However, she concluded that “on a fine balance” Mr Renton’s termination was “disproportionate to the gravity of the misconduct”. She noted Mr Renton had no prior history of misconduct and also shared joint care of young children including one with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. “Even though the misconduct was serious, because of its one-off nature I am not convinced that it justifies the decision to terminate Mr Renton’s employment although I can appreciate why Bendigo Health reached the conclusion it did.” Commissioner Bissett found reinstatement was “untenable” in part because Mr Renton had told the male colleague not to talk to “that red headed c— about what’s happened”, referring to Bendigo’s business unit manager. She directed him to file submissions on possible compensation.
January 10, 2017
An application for approval of the National Hearing Care (Contact Centre) Enterprise Agreement 2016 (s.185 – Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement) will be heard by Commissioner Gregory in his Melbourne Chambers.
January 10, 2017
Victoria Merritt alleges she suffered a psychiatric/psychological injury whilst employed by the Hunter New England Local Health District. The NSW Workers Compensation Commission agrees.
January 10, 2017
WA Labor has promised to introduce anti-stab vests for hospital security staff if it wins the March election, but the Premier said he did not see the need to turn hospitals into “quasi-military establishments”. Labor leader Mark McGowan said the proposal, which also includes personal duress alarms for regional health workers, was to counter an increasing number of assaults on health sector workers.
January 10, 2017
A nurse who was under investigation for allegedly assaulting a two-year-old was still working in a remote NT clinic when she died at her desk last week. The nurse died of a suspected heart attack but the Central Australia Health Service would not confirm an question. “It is inappropriate to comment on any matters that are in the hands of the Coroner,” a spokeswoman for the service said. The service also refused to answer why the nurse was still employed in the NT while she was being investigated over an alleged assault of a patient.
January 10, 2017
Business has expressed alarm over a new Fair Work Commission ruling that employers fear will help unions interfere in enterprise agreements struck between companies and employees in non-unionised workplaces. In a significant decision delivering victory to the militant construction union, a three-member commission full bench ruled unions should, apart from exceptional circumstances, be given access to documents filed by companies in support of agreements covering workplaces without union members. Employers declared the decision was a blow to companies seeking to deal directly with their workers and would encourage unions to exploit technical aspects of the Fair Work Act to stymie bargaining in workplaces where unions have no members.
December 23, 2016
A man will front court on Thursday after he allegedly defrauded about $100,000 from unsuspecting Queensland car owners. Police allege the man responded to online car advertisements pretending to be a doctor and that he claimed to put money into his victims’ bank accounts before he took possession of their cars. He even allegedly dressed up as a doctor while he inspected the vehicles.
December 23, 2016
Working conditions at Mt Gambier Hospital have become “untenable and unworkable” and have forced understaffed and stressed nurses to take court action. Overworked doctors at the state’s largest regional hospital are also taking action and will meet with the State Government in the Industrial Relations Commission today to ensure adequate staffing levels. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation secretary Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars said the union would lodge complaints against Country Health SA in the IRC, also today — a move which could result in fines. She said the hospital was failing to fill 14 nursing shifts, or an eight-hour shift every day, over a fortnight period, which was ultimately putting patients’ lives at risk, adding: “Staff have been expressing over a significant period of time about pressures and they are deeply concerned and it’s only a matter of time that patient care is negatively affected.
