Sex discrimination, bad dogs: 4 Gympie civil cases revealed
The vilification of a transgender pilot and a four-year fight over dangerous pit bulls were among the cases heard by Queensland’s civil courts this past year.
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Criminal court cases may grab the headlines but they are not the only recourse for those who believed they have been wronged.
Queensland’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal and its Industrial Relations Court have resolved four Gympie-related disputes in the past 12 months.
Among the cases were claims of sex discrimination, allegations a Nestle worker was fatally exposed and a prolonged fight over dangerous dogs.
Transgender vilification appeal
A one-time member of the Gympie Aero Club lost his appeal against an Anti-Discrimination ruling, which ordered he pay more than $19,000 in damages to a transgender flight instructor.
Blair Rowan had appealed the 2019 decision in which he was found to have breached the Act on three occasions. He was convicted of sexually harassing Jennifer Beck in emails that denigrated her right to use the female toilets.
In two emails, written in 2015 and sent to the club‘s committee, Mr Rowan first said he would “be far too busy broadsiding Jen Beck as to why we should clean his s--- from the side of a toilet bowl but he cant (sic). And also why he uses the female toilet?” and later asked how a woman felt sharing a toilet or change room with a man.
Nestle worker at centre of asbestos fight
A former Gympie Nestle worker was at the centre of a civil court fight involving claims he and another man were exposed to asbestos while working with products created by Klinger Limited, which ultimately led to their deaths.
The man, identified in court documents only as Mr Jones, was a maintenance fitter at the Gympie plant from 1961-1998, where he worked with Klingerit gaskets.
He died in 2018, from malignant mesothelioma, a cancer that commonly affects the lungs.
Klinger Limited has denied the allegations and, following a ruling that each man’s case can be heard by the courts at the same time, the case is ongoing.
Nurse’s bullying claims shot down
Queensland‘s industrial watchdog threw out a Gympie nurse’s appeal against an internal Queensland Health review which dismissed allegations of bullying, coercion and corruption following a tussle over overpaid wages.
Susan Stanley had appealed the Sunshine Coast Health and Hospital Services‘ review after it was found she received several years of overpaid wages thanks to a contract which was altered after she had signed it and without her knowledge.
The form incorrectly identified Ms Stanley as accruing six weeks‘ annual leave every year instead of five, leading her to be paid a higher loading rate between June 2016 and September 2019.
Pit bulls sentenced to death
Gympie Regional Council won the right to put down two dangerous dogs following a four-year legal battle with their owner.
The council and Kate Mitchell fought over the fate of a male black american staffordshire pit bull terrier named Max and a female brown and white american staffordshire pit bull terrier called Maggie from 2017.
The dogs were declared dangerous by the council in February 2017, after repeatedly escaping from Ms Mitchell‘s Tamaree property in 2016, and attacking a neighbour’s dog.
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