Teacher fails to get compensation after anxiety from damaging job reference

A teacher who read what he regarded as a bad reference for a job he applied for has failed in a bid to get compensation for anxiety. Find out what happened.

A Tasmanian teacher’s bid for compensation after a bad job reference has failed.

A Tasmanian teacher who says he was shocked and distressed by a bad reference for a job as a principal has failed in a bid to get compensation for anxiety and depression.

He claimed the reference, by a colleague, had “gross and false information” in it.

However, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found the reference was reasonable for the teacher who had applied for a job as principal of a southern Tasmanian school.

It dismissed his claim for compensation.

The position of principal had been held by a woman who was working in the Education Minister’s office and successfully re-applied for the position which combined two schools.

The teacher made a claim for compensation for an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood.

He was certified as incapacitated for work in January 2023 as a result of an incident in December 2022 when he read a referee report which he alleges had “gross and false information regarding himself in it”.

One of his referees was a school improvement leader.

“She wrote a referee report for me which was so damning and filled with misleading information,” he told the tribunal.

“She has not acted with honesty and integrity, has shown little respect for me and has provided false or misleading information in a referee report that resulted in me having no opportunity to fairly win the position of principal.”

The Education Department rejected his claim for workers’ compensation saying there was no requirement or necessity for the worker to seek the referee report.

A doctor told of the effects on the teacher from reading the reference.

“The most significant contributing factor was his response to the content of the referee report, which he found shocking and distressing, which caused him to have concerns about his future prospects with the Department and also lead to apprehension about having to continue to work with the individuals involved,” he said.

The tribunal was told the teacher believed the report was provided “in order to sabotage his application in favour of a preferred candidate.”

However, he agreed that he would not have asked to read the report if he had got the job.

Originally published as Teacher fails to get compensation after anxiety from damaging job reference