When a Cry for Safety Is Answered by Lawyers - February 2021

February 2021

This post documents what I wrote as I was seeking a safe return to work and basic support following a formal complaint to SafeWork NSW.

It does not seek to determine fault.

It records my contemporaneous words.

It is my story. My lived experience. 

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My Reply to my Employer’s “Lawyers” from Clayton Utz 

As I described in my previous post, on 29 January 2021, I received correspondence* from Clayton Utz lawyers acting for my employer, following my SafeWork NSW complaint of 18 January 2021.

* An unethical scare tactic to harass and intimidate me and to demand I “refrain” from contacting my colleagues of two decades. See http://mystory-myvoice.blogspot.com/2026/01/clayton-utz-isolation-intimidation.html

On 4 February 2021, I replied.

I did not open the attachment. Instead, I explained my position in writing.

I stated:

“I’m an employee who’s committed to my work and service on behalf of [the university] as well. All I asked for in return was a safe work environment, so I can continue to provide excellent service without collapsing from stress and burnout.”

I clarified that my matter was not adversarial:

“This was meant to be a serious but simple complaint of bullying and harassment, that I needed mediation to resolve fairly, because my health reached a state where I couldn’t keep going.”

I asked a question about reciprocal obligations:

“I met my obligation in my work for the university. Is the university, in return, not obligated to ensure a safe work environment?”

I also set a clear boundary regarding contact:

“I didn’t view your attachment because I made it very clear to keep the offenders away from me.”

And I concluded with a request for the contact to stop:

“I’m a simple person who did my work honourably. Please leave me alone.”

At no point did I seek escalation.

I sought distance, safety, and resolution.

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An Internal Request for Assistance

4 February 2021 – 11:57 pm

Later that evening, I emailed my colleague who was one of the witnesses I included in my SafeWork NSW complaint. She was also a union representative. 

I wrote:

“Please make them stop now. All I wanted was a safe work environment. Then that required a return to work plan for recovery and a support network of colleagues. I was provided with neither.”

I explained the impact the situation was having on me personally, and asked for intervention so that contact from perpetrators would cease and support could be restored.

This message reflects distress.

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What I Wrote to Colleagues and My Union Representative

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had included colleagues as witnesses in my SafeWork NSW complaint because I had no support and no return-to-work plan in place. See http://mystory-myvoice.blogspot.com/2026/01/safework-nsw-my-experience-when.html

In communications with my workers-compensation representatives and my union, I repeated the same core requests:

“I want to return to my work… I need a colleague to contact me as a support.”

I described my experience at that time as ongoing distress and isolation, and stated:

“This abuse has to end. I’m still being abused. It’s systemic abuse.”

These words reflected how the situation felt to me while unwell, unsupported, and waiting for statutory processes to operate. They were not legal conclusions.

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What This Record Shows

Across all correspondence in this period, my position was consistent:

• I sought a safe work environment

• I requested mediation, not conflict

• I asked for a support network of colleagues

• I wanted a structured return-to-work plan

What I experienced instead was delay, silence, and redirection into legal correspondence at a time when I was medically vulnerable, caused by HR. 

(Document 148). 

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Author’s note:

This post reflects my lived experience and is based on contemporaneous correspondence, formal complaints lodged with regulators, and publicly available journalism. 

When a human being has exhausted every agency responsible to keep her safe from further harm, and is not only failed, but those “trusted” agencies caused greater harm, this person is left with no other choice but to scream for help to save her life and assert her statutory employee rights.

It should NEVER have reached this point. 

All quotations above are taken verbatim from contemporaneous emails dated January–February 2021.

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Further reading:

Serenity in Leadership. (2022, 24 October). 5 Ways Leaders Handle Bullying. [Online]: https://www.serenityinleadership.com/news/5-ways-responsible-leaders-deal-with-workplace-bullying

Suskind, D. (2024, 24 June). ‘Workplace bullying: Weaponising belonging at work.’ Psychology Today. [Online]: https://www-psychologytoday-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/bully-wise/202406/workplace-bullying-weaponizing-belonging-at-work