Bullying probe, sex innuendo, top Qld hospital boss wins job stoush

A director of anaesthetics has had his redeployment overturned after his employer failed to prove he was unsafe as a manager after a series of complaints by staff.

Director of anaesthetics Dr Kerry James Brandis took on Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service.

The veteran director of anaesthetics at the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service has overturned his redeployment to a non-managerial clinical job after a tribunal found his employer failed to prove he was unsafe as a manager after a series of complaints by staff, including a bullying probe.

Kerry James Brandis won the stoush with the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission in a decision handed down by Commissioner Daniel Pratt last week.

Dr Brandis, who managed 170 staff, was disciplined on January 31 by losing his managerial responsibilities after an internal GCHHS investigation report concluded the “detrimental action” he took against anaesthetist Dale Kerr about two years ago was inappropriate and his response to anaesthetist Gemma Duncan’s request to reduce her shifts, also about two years ago, was also inappropriate.

Dr Brandis, who had been the director of anaesthetics at the GCHHS for over 30 years, was found to have breached the Queensland Public Servants Code of Conduct, by the internal investigation report in 2023.

The QIRC heard that Dr Brandis decided to relieve Dr Kerr of his rostering responsibilities after some trainees allegedly accused Dr Kerr of bullying, including allegedly misusing his rostering responsibilities.

Dr Brandis now concedes that removing Dr Kerr’s rostering responsibilities was an over-reaction and that the decision was made without procedural fairness to Dr Kerr.

According to the QIRC decision the allegations of bullying against Dr Kerr were conveyed to Dr Brandis by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists.

They allegedly indicated to Dr Brandis that they intended to make a serious “above the line” recommendation in relation to the trainees bullying complaints, which means that a failure to comply with this recommendation will result in the loss of ANZCA traineeship accreditation for the GCHHS.

Dr Brandis told the QIRC that the decision to remove Dr Kerr’s rostering job was made by himself and co-directors, and was also motivated by past, but unsubstantiated, complaints about Dr Kerr’s misuse of his rostering responsibilities, as well as a desire to remove a “target on (Dr Kerr’s) back”, the decision states.

Dr Kerry James Brandis

The QIRC was told Dr Kerr felt wronged and embarrassed by the decision to strip him of such a visible task, and ultimately the ANZCA did not make an “above the line” recommendation in relation to the bullying allegations against Dr Kerr.

Dr Brandis later apologised to Dr Kerr, although Dr Kerr did not accept the apology, the decision states.

Dr Duncan also lodged a formal complaint against Dr Brandis after she was offended by what she perceived to be an inappropriate remark about her announcement that she was trying to have a child on her own because she no longer had a partner.

According to the QIRC decision Dr Duncan had asked Dr Brandis if she would cut her shifts to work 0.5FTE (full-time-equivalent) at GCHHS so she could live in Brisbane while trying to have a baby.

Dr Brandis told her he believed her request was premature and cited a GCHHS policy of generally not allowing less than 0.75FTE, and said he wanted “committed people who work here most of the time”.

Dr Brandis also said that Dr Duncan should have waited until she was pregnant to have made this request, the decision states.

He suggested, as an alternative, that Dr Duncan work full-time at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, which would be closer to home.

He said that the GCHHS would not be left in the lurch if Dr Duncan made such a move, as others could fill her role.

Dr Brandis was found by the internal investigation to have told Dr Duncan “You can’t do that,” after she told him she was planning to have a child on her own, and later, “Good luck with everything and make sure you keep practising, because we all love practising.”

The investigation concluded that this comment carried the innuendo that Dr Duncan should be having sex.

Immediately after, Dr Brandis told Dr Duncan that he was only joking, but Dr Duncan took offence, and the internal investigation found it to be an inappropriate remark.

In his decision Mr Pratt set aside the January 31 disciplinary decision to redeploy Dr Brandis to a non-managerial role because it was not fair and reasonable.

Mr Pratt ruled that the conclusion that it was no longer safe to leave Dr Brandis in a managerial role was not open to be drawn on the facts before the QIRC.

Mr Pratt concluded that Dr Brandis’ lengthy and otherwise unblemished managerial service, and his incident-free history since Dr Duncan and Dr Kerr incidents, proved he was a competent manager.

Dr Brandis told the QIRC that he had completed training to address any knowledge gaps that may have led to the two incidents with Dr Kerr and Dr Duncan.

He had apologised to Dr Duncan for his actions and expressed deep regret for any offence that he caused her.

The internal GCHHS investigation report acknowledged that Dr Brandis and his co-directors had since become familiar with the updated flexible work arrangements policy, the decision stated.

Originally published as Bullying probe, sex innuendo, top Qld hospital boss wins job stoush