Fair Work makes ‘stop bullying’ order for team leader’s ‘unreasonable behaviour’

Commission described the team head's conduct as 'unfathomable'

BY Georgia Neaverson 07 Oct 2021

In a recent case, the Fair Work Commission considered an employee’s application for an order to stop bullying. The employee alleged that her team leader engaged in several instances of bullying, including suggesting that she work for a competitor and continuously following her around during her shifts. Ultimately, the Commission granted the order.

Tao (Selina) Qu worked at Monards, a luxury jewellery and watch store at Surfers Paradise, commencing her role in February 2018. She reported to her team leader, Tak Wing Wong. In May 2021, Qu applied for an order to stop bullying, contained under s 789FC of the Fair Work Act 2009.

At the hearing, Qu gave evidence that the Monards team used an application on their personal mobile phones, called “Slack”, to communicate with one another whilst at work. She asserted that, given this arrangement, Wong constantly queried whether or not she was using her mobile phone for work-related purposes.

Qu also submitted several specific allegations of bullying perpetrated by Wong, namely that he:

Suggested she work for Hourglass, a competitor, leaving Qu to feel “very embarrassed”
Continuously followed her around the store while she performed work duties, causing Qu to take personal leave during September 2020
Sent a message to Qu through the Slack group chat stating that her attitude was “very aggressive”
Sent a message to Qu through the Slack group chat requesting that she tidy a mess that he had made when he could have asked her verbally and privately
Raised his hand to signal her to stop talking when Qu attempted to clarify an issue with him
Told Qu to “shut up” after she took her lunch break at a time that was inconvenient to him
Issued Qu an unwarranted performance improvement plan

Judgment

The primary issues for the Commission were whether Qu was bullied at work and whether there was a risk that she would continue to experience bullying. Despite Wong’s assertion that any action he took was “reasonable management action taken in a reasonable manner”, the Commission found that he behaved unreasonably towards Qu on several occasions.

The Commission was satisfied that this repeated behaviour posed a risk to Qu’s health and safety. It also noted that Monards implemented no anti-bullying policy or procedure and took no steps to address Qu’s concerns.

The Commission made an order to stop bullying.

Key Takeaways

Employers owe a duty to ensure a safe and healthy work environment
Employers must ensure they take steps to investigate and remedy employee complaints
Employers should discourage workplace intimidation and harassment through implementing anti-bullying policies or procedures