Watpac senior safety officer claims he was bullied, harassed and threatened by CFMEU members — then sacked so employer could ‘stay on side’

A senior safety officer at a major construction company claims he was bullied by CFMEU members – then sacked because his employer wanted to “stay on side” with the union.

A senior safety officer at a major construction company claims he was bullied, harassed and threatened by members of the CFMEU – then sacked because his employer wanted to “stay on side” with the union.

Terry Dixon, who worked for Watpac in Adelaide, also claims in court documents the union had agreed work on a Victorian site could continue over Christmas if he was “removed” from the company.

The Federal Court case stems from complaints about a series of threatening phone calls made in mid-2019 to union delegate Emosi Veron and two senior Watpac managers from a person who identified themself only as “Johno”.

An anonymous note later left on the desk of a Watpac site manager blamed the calls on Mr Dixon.

It read: “My name is Johno. I was paid by Terry Dixon to threaten Moss (Mr Veron) and his family. Terry is a liar and a thief. I was told the union threatened Terry and that’s why I did this on behalf of him.”

A judgment handed down on Friday reveals the note was referred to SA Police, and Mr Dixon was stood down while an internal investigation was conducted.

Ultimately, it found allegations of Mr Dixon’s involvement were unsubstantiated, and “Johno” could not be identified.

But those findings were “not acceptable” to the CFMEU, which requested an external investigation take place. In October, Watpac approved the appointment of former Victoria Police member Stephen Curnow to undertake a second probe.

CFMEU delegate Emosi Veron with his partner Santana Kingi and son Malakai Kingi-Vernon, pictured in 2020. Mr Veron was threatened in phone calls. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

Mr Curnow reached “very different conclusions” in his report, which found that a person associated with Mr Dixon, named Nick Angelakis, was responsible for the note and “had done so with the intent of discrediting Mr Dixon, for personal reasons”.

Mr Curnow also found there was a “strong likelihood” Mr Dixon was behind the calls, the contents of which was “threatening and intimidatory in nature” and, therefore, potentially illegal.

Mr Dixon was stood down in December and later terminated by Watpac based on the findings of misconduct in the report, despite his denial of any involvement.

In court documents, he argued the CFMEU had targeted him in a campaign of “industrial bullying and harassment” with the aim of forcing his resignation or termination.

The campaign included fabricated allegations of misconduct and criminal actions, Mr Dixon said.

He also alleged he was told by a union member the union would agree to work at a Watpac site in Victoria over the Christmas break “if Terry Dixon was removed from Watpac SA”.

Mr Dixon is arguing in court he had a right not to be bullied at work, that Watpac agreed to the appointment of Mr Curnow only “because of pressure from the CFMEU” and the report in itself is “flawed in its reasoning”.

“He asserts that he was terminated because of his profile with the CFMEU and Watpac’s desire to stay on side with it,” the judgment said.

If successful, Mr Dixon could be entitled to compensation.

But Watpac asserts Mr Dixon was terminated because Mr Curnow’s report found he engaged in illegal and intimidating behaviour towards other staff members.

The matter has been listed for trial in March next year.