Dr Varsha Pilbrow claims Melbourne University colleagues left her ‘practically suicidal’

A respected academic claims she was “mercilessly bullied and harassed by senior staff” at Melbourne University after being made redundant.

A Magistrate ruled that Dr Varsha Pilbrow was unfairly treated in the aftermath of her redundancy from Melbourne University.

Victoria’s most prestigious university left a respected academic suicidal after security guards escorted her off the campus, a court has heard.

Dr Varsha Pilbrow, a lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience at the University of Melbourne, was accused of stealing 232 digital files and barred from entering her own laboratory.

Magistrate Meghan Hoare ruled that Dr Pilbrow was unfairly treated in the aftermath of her redundancy in 2019, causing her to suffer a chronic adjustment disorder.

In a 10-day court hearing that produced 1000 pages of transcripts, Dr Pilbrow said she was “intellectually being raped” and left “practically suicidal” due to her colleagues’ treatment of her.

The expert on teeth said being denied entry to the university made her feel “extremely harassed” and “bullied … by a whole mob” who were “intending to kill her”.

Dr Varsha Pilbrow says she felt like was gaslighted.

The magistrate said that although Dr Pilbrow’s evidence was “somewhat dramatic and even rather florid” she did not think she was deliberately untruthful.

Dr Pilbrow, described by Ms Hoare as a having a significant academic background, worked at the university full-time from 2010 to 2020.

In 2019 her position was made redundant primarily ­because of a lack of external funding, a move the magistrate found was justified.

After her redundancy, Dr Pilbrow’s weekend access to the university was revoked, ­security guards stopped her ­accessing her lab and escorted her off campus, and a senior staff member refused to talk to her, she told the court.

About the same time, the university accused her of “serious misconduct with continuing employment untenable” because she had inadvertently deleted university files.

An internal investigation cleared Dr Pilbrow, but she told the court the allegation made her feel like she was subject to “gaslighting”.

The magistrate concluded there was “a whole of course of conduct that was unreasonable and accorded an unnecessary lack of respect and dignity” to Dr Pilbrow.

She singled out Associate Professor Quentin Fogg for giving evidence that was at times self-serving and evasive.

The magistrate concluded Dr Pilbrow was entitled to reasonable medical and other expenses.

Travis Fewster, a lawyer with Arnold Thomas & Becker, for Dr Pilbrow, said the university had “shown compete disregard for the workplace rights” of his client.

“She was mercilessly bullied and harassed by senior staff of the university and was also subjected to frivolous and unsubstantiated claims,” he said.

“At no time was she offered any protections or support.”