Building site supervisor Jeffery Mark Rowe fined $12,000 after apprentice set alight on worksite

He called it “hijinks gone wrong” — but a building site supervisor with 30 years experience has been fined $12,000 after an “atrocious” case of workplace bullying.

A building site supervisor who squirted flammable liquid on an apprentice, and failed to extinguish the flames allegedly lit by his colleague, has been fined more than $13,000.

The SA Employment Tribunal on Friday convicted Jeffery Mark Rowe, 47, over the March 2017 attack, saying it was “fortuitous (the victim) did not suffer serious injury or worst”.

In an SA-first case, Rowe and co-worker Luke Daniel Chenoweth, 28, were charged over the attack at the construction of the BUPA aged-care facility on Woodville Rd at Woodville.

In his judgment, Deputy President Magistrate Stuart Cole said Rowe squirted flammable liquid on the 19-year-old apprentice electrician, whose shirt was already alight.

Mr Cole said this produced more flames and the victim “could have sustained significant burns from the melting of the shirt on to his skin”.

“The potential for a devastating outcome from this incident was real,” Mr Cole said.

“Rowe was a supervisor and (the victim) was an apprentice. The imbalance of power and authority makes it harder for (the victim) to resist what he was subject to.”

Mr Cole said Chenoweth, who has yet to plead to the charges, squirted flammable liquid on to the victim’s right boot and ignited it with his lighter while all three were in the lunchroom.

“The flame burnt out and (the victim) did not say anything at the time,” Mr Cole said.

“(The victim) then walked towards the door of the lunchroom at which time Chenoweth squirted more of the liquid on to the crotch area of the work pants.

“(The victim) became scared that his clothing would be set alight and ran to the other end of the lunchroom.

“Chenoweth followed and pinned (the victim) to the wall, while at the same time flicking his lighter. (The victim) begged Chenoweth not to light his clothing.”

Mr Cole said Chenoweth then turned away, allowing the victim to leave the room but Rowe and Chenoweth followed him.

He said more liquid was squirted on the victim’s shirt and when Chenoweth reached forward with the lighter, the shirt immediately caught fire and produced flames.

“Rowe then took the bottle from Chenoweth and squirted more liquid on to (the victim’s) shirt, producing more flames,” Mr Cole said.

Mr Cole said Rowe, who was dismissed from his job of almost 30 years at Tad-Mar Electrical, claimed the attack was “hijinks gone wrong” but accepted it was a serious matter.

He said Rowe believed there was no flame on the victim’s shirt at the time.

Mr Cole said he accepted the incident was out of character for Rowe but added that there was no good reason to spare him a conviction.

“To not record a conviction would be failing to reflect the seriousness of the nature and circumstances of the offending,” Mr Cole said.

Rowe was convicted and fined $12,000, after a 40 per cent reduction based on his early guilty plea, $260 victims crime levy, $272 court costs and $800 prosecution costs.

SafeWork SA Executive Director Martyn Campbell said the sentence should send a clear message to all businesses that the bullying of any worker will not be tolerated.

“The health and safety of young workers is critical. This includes protecting them from psychological harm as well as physical harm,” he said.

“The behaviour of this supervisor was atrocious. In his supervisory role, there is an expectation he would immediately put a stop to this type of harmful action and certainly not engage in it himself.

“This case reinforces the importance of having a process in place to ensure bullying does not occur in the workplace.”

SafeWork SA is also prosecuting Tad-Mar Electrical for allegedly exposing the victim to a safety risk by permitting the supervisors to work with him.