Sacked trainee Brisbane City Council bus driver files claim she was bullied, victimised and sexually harassed

A sacked trainee Brisbane City Council bus driver has named five council workers in a complaint in which she claims she was sexually harassed, bullied and victimised, a tribunal has heard.

The driver contended that she was subjected to harassment, bullying, poor organisational justice, violence, aggression, victimisation, threatening behaviour and received poor support while working for the council. Picture: David Clark

A sacked trainee Brisbane City Council bus driver is claiming she was sexually harassed, bullied, subjected to “violence”, discriminated against and victimised and has named five council colleagues in her complaint, a tribunal has heard.

Details of the “serious” allegations made by Annabelle Alistair against other council staffers were revealed in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) where she has applied for reinstatement and argues her sacking was unfair.

She made the claims after she was sacked one year into her two-year traineeship after the council concluded that 13 occasions of bad conduct by Ms Alistair were substantiated.

She wants apologies from five council employees.

In a decision handed down on December 12, Catherine Hartigan, the deputy president of the Industrial Court of Queensland gave the council the green light to be legally represented in the upcoming unfair dismissal hearing.

Ms Hartigan described Ms Alistair’s allegations as “serious”, according to the 11-page decision.

The case is in its early stages and the allegations have not been proven.

Ms Alistair began working for the council as a trainee bus driver on June 23, 2023 on a temporary contract which was due to run until June 23, 2025 so she could complete a traineeship.

The contract could be completed earlier if she passed the traineeship tests, the decision states.

But five months in to her traineeship Ms Alistair was suspended from her job due to “a number of allegations raised against her”, the decision states.

Eight months later when a council investigation was completed she was sacked with the investigation concluding she had breached standards on 13 occasions.

She filed an application with the QIRC in a bid to get her job back on July 16 this year, the same day she was sacked.

Ms Alistair made the claims after she was sacked one year into her two-year traineeship after the council concluded that 13 occasions of bad conduct by her were substantiated. Picture AAP/David Clark

She contended that she was subjected to harassment, bullying, poor organisational justice, violence, aggression, victimisation, threatening behaviour and received poor support while working for the council.

She has raised a number of allegations against five council employees, from whom she is seeking apologies, the decision states.

The council has asked the QIRC to throw out Ms Alistair’s case “for want of jurisdiction” because it submits she was employed as a temporary employee for a specific task, which makes her ineligible for protection from unfair dismissal.

Ms Alistair was initially represented in the QIRC by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union when she launched her case in July, but recently the union has told the QIRC that Ms Alistair is now running her own case.

She argues her sacking was unfair claiming she was not warned prior to being suspended from the workplace, and that the council misrepresented information, and did not provide her with copies of evidence relied upon.

She also argues the council has “changed their allegations” multiple times over months, has threatened and bullied her during the process and contacted her when directed not to, she was given little notice of her sacking, and she was sacked within a year of injuring herself at work.

The council told the QIRC that it will need to be represented by a lawyer during the hearing as the case is “complex” and they will call evidence from various witnesses and the QIRC will be required to rule on whether the witnesses are credible.

In 2023 Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the council had more than 2600 bus drivers and was recruiting more.