“Unfriending” a colleague on Facebook amounts to workplace bullying, an industrial relations tribunal has ruled.
Advertisement
The dispute with senior management began when Ms Roberts complained that her properties were not being displayed fairly in the office’s front window.
Ms Roberts went to the Fair Work Commission alleging she had been bullied by her employer, mainly in her interactions with Lisa Bird, the sales administrator and the wife of the agency’s principal.
Next time you reach breaking point when you see Mary from accounts has posted another HILARIOUS cat gif, think twice before clicking that mouse. With ten years industry experience, Roberts filed a claim with the agency claiming she had been bullied by her employer. It is from here that Rachel says she later found out that Mrs. Bird had unfriended her from Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).
The tribunal also found that Mrs Bird acted unreasonably when she did not acknowledge Ms Roberts in the morning and delivered photocopying and printing to other employees but not Ms Roberts.
The tribunal found this showed Mrs Bird’s behaviour posed a risk to the employee’s health and safety.
The Fair Work Commission ruled Mrs Bird had behaved in an “unreasonable” manner and shown a “lack of emotional maturity”.
The commission has issued an order to stop the bullying.
She said the alleged behaviour, which occurred between November 2013 and January 2015, resulted in her being unable to sleep, depressed and highly anxious, requiring medication from her GP and psychologist.
The Commission made the ruling on hearing a case brought to it by real estate agent Rachael Roberts.
“I am satisfied the behaviour carried out by Mrs Bird fulfils the prerequisite criteria of [of the Act] and therefore constitutes bullying at work of Ms Roberts”, Ms Wells said.
Advertisement
“What [it] did find is that a pattern of unreasonable behavior, hostile behavior, belittling behavior over about a two-year period, which featured a range of different behaviors including berating, excluding, and so on, constituted a workplace bullying”.
