Employment lawyer #3 - Part 3 - 2020

“Humanity should eliminate processes that base one’s happiness in another’s unhappiness. Moral people follow this direction, but there are still people with malicious intentions that must change”.  Maria Karvouni

On 7 May 2020, the Safety Manager dared to continue to embroil my family in her disgusting manipulative conduct. I’ll say it again. I’m disgusted that leaders of a publicly funded university, conduct themselves in immoral and corrupt conduct, and disgusted to see where they have chosen to waste an exorbitant amount of money, to intentionally harm their public stakeholders, the community. They engage in such immoral conduct than actually ensure the WHS AND WELLBEING of their staff, students, visitors, families, alumni and senior citizens, which is a LEGAL OBLIGATION. 

My family forwarded the email to me, with their response, because it had caused them anger and distress. Little did I know it was only the beginning. It got worse as an entire family were left in the hands of a corporate psychopath to “handle”. There was an external complaint that needed to be “handled” ethically. Not making community members who made a formal complaint a target. THIS IS A PUBLICLY FUNDED UNIVERSITY WITH A COMMITMENT TO THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON AND COMMON GOOD. IT IS NOT A CRIMINAL GANG, OR SO I THOUGHT. 

We DEMANDED from the university to keep that safety manager away from not only me, but my family, as she INVADED THEIR PRIVACY TO CAUSE HARM TO ME, BUT DID NOT EXPECT THEY WOULD MAKE A FORMAL COMPLAINT ABOUT THEIR PRIVACY BEING BREACHED BY A UNIVERSITY EXECUTIVE. 

THEY HAD A RIGHT TO COMPLAIN AND FOR THE UNIVERSITY LEADERS TO STOP THE SAFETY MANAGER HARASSING THEM. 

THE THEN VC AND NOW VC ALLOWED THIS CORPORATE PSYCHOPATH TO CONTINUE HARASSING AND HARMING ME AND MY FAMILY. SHE DARED TO WRITE TO MY FAMILY.

THE COMPLAINT WAS ALSO ABOUT HER! 

That psycho wrote:

“I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your complaint lodged with [The University] by email on 28 April 2020.

As your complaint is about staff at the university, it has been referred to the Director, Human Resources, in the first instance.

Your complaint raises a number of concerns, involving allegations of staff conduct and potential privacy issues, traversing a period of more than 10 years. The university is considering the appropriate process(es) for dealing with your complaint, and will advise you of next steps as soon as it is in a position to do so.

I confirm your advice that your complaint is on your [family’s] behalf. (MY NOTE : SEPARATE TO ME. IT WAS TO DO WITH THAT CORPORATE PSYCHOPATH GOING NEXT LEVEL IN ABUSE AND BREACHING THEIR PRIVACY. MY FAMILY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH MY REQUEST FOR A SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENT! THE IRONY OF WHO WAS ULTIMATELY CAUSING THE HARM AS THE PERPETRATOR OF PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE, DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT.). 

Your complaint is also about matters involving your sister, who is a current staff member of the university. You will appreciate that the university may communicate only with Vicki or her legal or other authorised representative about her employment relationship with the university.

I will be your point of contact with the university regarding your complaint.”

OH FUCK OFF. Keep this disturbed psycho away from us! Such disgraceful conduct, not only from this person, but those who gave her the authority and autonomy to break multiple laws and abuse community members as COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. Senior citizens, alumni, prospective students and talented staff working for the benefit of the university, applying its mission, ethos, code of conduct when senior executive leaders refuse to apply those themselves. WE ARE ALL STAKEHOLDERS. 

My family’s response later that night:

“I reply to your e-mail sent to me at 6:10 pm, on 7 May, 2020.

1) My complaint is against [the manager] (mainly), and then to a lesser, but significant degree, [the Library associate director] and [the HR associate director] (not The University). I have made this very clear in my letter.

2) I understand my complaint being forwarded to [the HR director], but I am at a loss to understand why exactly my very serious and confidential letter of complaint has been forwarded to you.

3) My letter of complaint is indeed from me (on behalf of the family), concerning the way [we] have been treated firstly by [the manager], and then [the library associate director] and [the HR associate director]. These people have involved us in my sister’s employment matters. We have not involved ourselves in my sister’s employment matters. Keep this at the forefront of your mind.

4) I fail to understand exactly what you mean when you say “The University is considering the appropriate process(es) for dealing with (my) complaint.” Does [the University] not have processes in place already for dealing with such matters? I have carefully read the [University] Misconduct and Serious Misconduct Policy and Procedures, so I expect that these procedures will be followed. Is there some other official policy or procedure that will be used concerning this matter? If there is, I ask that you forward it to me immediately.

5) Given the fact that [the family] have tolerated the serious incident in our home ten years ago, and then continued to tolerate (for years) abuse/harassment and violations of our privacy from the very same person, I expect to be kept fully informed of every single step that will be taken in the investigation.

MY NOTE: That incident was the harassment toward my own mother, in our family home, by my manager, the morning after my father died by suicide. And they tolerated this in their distress. They tolerated so much from this person. Did I have no right to Compassionate Leave either? 

6) My complaint is an entirely separate issue to the complaint of workplace bullying my sister has submitted. It is staff in this very process who have violated my privacy, and involved my very separate and very private matters in a workplace bullying complaint. Being a workplace issue, staff have absolutely no right (by law) to implicate, harass, exploit, and/or pry into the private matters of any family member not employed by [the University].

7) I repeat, to clarify, with my letter of complaint I am not representing my sister. I do appreciate she is represented by her own lawyer in her employment matter. You, however, don’t seem to appreciate that I am well within my rights to complain for the violation of our own privacy and the abuse/harassment inflicted upon us [the family], especially at times of death and/or illness in my family. Do not attempt to confuse one issue with the other.

8) I will not be contacting you. I will wait for you to inform me, in writing, of each and every step that will be taken in order to investigate my complaint(s) as outlined in my letter. I expect a response within the next five working days.”

On 7 May 2020 at 10:34pm I forwarded this email correspondence to my employment lawyer:

To quote what I wrote: 

“My family’s very separate complaint went from the DVC (Education & Innovation), (NOTE: the NOW VC OF THE UNIVERSITY - who was also apparently the decision maker in the “independent” investigation in this part of the unlawful “process”) to the office of the academic registrar (why, when it doesn’t involve a student issue) and then to the Director of HR who again fobbed it off to [the safety manager].

Please read her pathetic email and my family’s reply ensuring she stops attempting to confuse the two very separate cases.

As I said, these psychopaths are capable of anything, but we are not idiots.

If she dares to come back with more bs, read my family’s reply because all this harassment needs to end immediately. She knows she’s in the shit, because she made an unorthodox but calculated decision to do what occurred in that “dispute resolution”.

The two complaints are separate and she better not dare attempt to involve one with the other, because she is also a guilty party for the low and immoral action in the “dispute resolution”. My family’s complaint should not be in her hands, period.

…My workplace bullying complaint never involved my family. But they did.

The harassment and bullying must end. (Apologies for the swearing. Not my usual language but I need these psychopaths to stop the games).”

On 8 May 2020 at 12:02 am, I email my family regarding the safety violations towards community members from my publicly funded university employer. I wrote: 

“I’m doing what I can. They have no right to continue this harassment and attitude.”

At 1:57am, I email my employment lawyer: 

“Once again as I attempt to get my health back on track, I’m so distressed I can’t sleep and I’m hyperventilating. I feared this privacy breach and insensitivity regarding my family’s complaint would happen…

My family are not minors, have been distressed at vulnerable times and I was compromised by my manager when I needed to temporarily take carers leave. These situations were exploited and their privacy violated, when I finally called out the workplace bullying. They have a right to complain for harassment in their private home and for being further implicated in my own complaint…

I need the following to happen as we wait for [the safety manager’s] reply by 5pm (NOTE: The one that had to do with my issue, especially regarding steps to be provided that the university were going to take toward a safe work environment). 

[The safety manager] is not to be responsible for handling my family’s complaint (she too was involved in the privacy violation. It wasn’t “potential” privacy violation. It actually happened). The complaint is to go back to the HR director and the official policy and procedures for misconduct are to be followed.

The particulars that I have provided are the only points to be investigated by the external investigator. Mine are directly related to what I was put through at work.

All I have asked is to return to my work in a safe environment, and for my personal leave I was forced to take, to be recredited.

My family, however, may choose to get legal advice and be compensated for what they have suffered when they’re not employees. They were implicated unfairly. And harassed in their home and their safety put at risk when I had to support and care for them, and their privacy violated.

One thing I request in the process of all this is a written document from my employer as to how they’ll assist in helping me and my family heal from the psychological injuries they inflicted upon all of us. In my case, I want reassurance there will not be any covert passive aggressive bullying toward me for enforcing my rights to a safe work environment when I return. I have cooperated, tried to reason and made genuine attempts to resolve the issue fairly for everyone. I didn’t complicate this. Enough abuse from these bullies.

Please protect me from further torment.”

In conclusion, my family were very angry and upset at having their own privacy violated by the organisation’s HR executives in a work-related matter. HR breached the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). My family chose to complain about all the harassment and privacy violations they tolerated by certain managers and executive staff. The complaint went to the very people harassing and bullying and exploiting an entire family’s privacy, to continue to do so. My family did not need to justify, via my solicitor, their reasons for a separate formal complaint to the university regarding harassment directed at them. 

The perpetrators are to be be legally restrained from any further contact and involvement with myself and family. I do, however, encourage my family to resubmit their formal complaint to the university, this time including the multiple incidents of reckless and wilful misconduct of the national manager of employment relations and SAFETY. What is the now vice-chancellor, going to do, this time? 

This post is based on document 45. I only focussed on this document because this part is very important and serious. It needed to be in detail. It displays adverse action for requesting generally protected workplace rights, discrimination, harassment, privacy invasion, deception, malicious, vexatious and reckless conduct that condones engaging in WHS breaches and creating psychosocial hazards, not managing the risks as the PCBU is reasonably expected to do so, BY LAW.