The behaviour of a nurse who drove past a colleague’s house 26 times, shouting profanities and blasting a Tom Petty anthem, was “abhorrent” according to a court that has rejected her bid for unfair dismissal. Robin Hansen took her former employer, Calvary Health Care Adelaide, to the Fair Work Commission, claiming her dismissal on November 3, 2015, was unfair. She claimed she was made aware of bullying accusations against her but was not given the chance to change her behaviour and was sacked after she directed a fellow nurse to lodge a medication error report. But the Catholic health care provider claimed the dismissal was reasonable because it did not arise from the medication error report but rather, Ms Hansen’s acts of bullying and harassment towards another employee. In January, the commission made an order restraining Ms Hansen from contacting a nurse, who stood up for the nurse who had to lodge the medication error report. About three months later, Calvary asked the commission to dismiss Ms Hansen’s unfair dismissal suit because she allegedly continued to breach the order. The commission heard Ms Hansen drove past the fellow nurses’ home about 26 times between February 27 and April 1, yelling “up yours b….” and “die you piece of s…” from the car. It was also alleged she drove past the house playing Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down loudly on her car stereo. Ms Hansen admitted driving past the house but said she did so because she lived nearby and had to go down the street to visit her horse and go to the shops. She also claimed she would often play loud music and if she was stressed, talk to herself in the car to let off steam. Ms Hansen admitted placing a sign near the street where the nurse lived, saying: “Calvary nurse bullied/fired for reporting drug errors. I passed lie detector test. Liars still work there.” She told the commission she did not believe she was breaching the restraining order because she did not stop at the premises. Ms Hansen admitted to the commission she returned a letter to the nurse’s lawyer Patrick Walsh with the words, “Up yours c… – no surrender” written on the envelope. The commission heard the nurse put in CCTV cameras and Calvary hired a company to conduct its own surveillance at the house. In his reasons for throwing out the unfair dismissal claim, Commissioner Christopher Platt said Ms Hansen’s conduct was “not consistent with the robust pursuit of her claim”. “I am satisfied that Ms Hansen’s conduct is so abhorrent that it is appropriate to dismiss her unfair dismissal application,” Commissioner Platt said.
