UFU chief Peter Marshall escapes bullying charges

Worksafe Victoria’s bid to charge United Firefighters’ Union boss Peter ­Marshall over bullying allegations has failed.

Worksafe Victoria’s bid to charge United Firefighters’ Union boss Peter ­Marshall over bullying allegations has failed Picture: Tim Carrafa

Worksafe Victoria’s bid to charge United Firefighters’ Union boss Peter ­Marshall over bullying allegations has failed.

A long probe into Mr Marshall’s behaviour was sparked by complaints to the workplace watchdog by former Metropolitan Fire Brigade chief officer Peter Rau and his deputy, David Youssef.

Both quit in 2016, at the height of the fire services crisis in Victoria.

As its inquiries lasted longer than two years, WorkSafe Victoria had to seek the permission of the ­Director of Public Prosecutions, Kerri Judd, before ­laying charges. But she ruled there was no ­precedent for multiple allegations of bullying to be rolled into a single charge.

That has left Mr Rau distraught.

He told the Herald Sun he had not wanted to sue the MFB over his ­alleged treatment, as others had successfully done, because he thought WorkSafe Victoria was the right ­avenue to protect workers and ­create “change for the future”.

“I just thought going to the group that’s meant to look after you was the right thing to do, and it’s been a disaster,” he said.

United firefighters union boss Peter Marshall. Picture: Nicole Garmston

“I’m just a dumb-arse ex-­firefighter, but I don’t understand what you mean by ‘you can’t roll things up’. Bullying by nature is ­either a one-off significant thing or repeated. These incidents were significant and repeated.”

He hit out at delays that plagued his case, saying: “It just stinks.”

Mr Marshall has denied any wrongdoing and could not be contacted last night.

The allegations of bullying related to UFU bulletins, public Facebook messages, and email correspondence.

In a letter to WorkSafe Victoria in April, Ms Judd says she had “formed the view that the bullying was constituted by a series of acts. However, the relevant charge could not be drafted as ‘rolled up’ … nor a ‘course of conduct’ charge”.

She writes there was “no precedent on this point”, and she had formed the view that if charges were to be brought, “a single charge would need to be brought for each contravention”.

Former Chief Fire Officer of the MFB who brought a bullying complaint against Peter Marshall. Picture: Tony Gough

But unfortunately, “each act of bullying would never satisfy each and every element” of the workplace safety Act. She also found it would be “difficult to prove Mr Marshall foresaw that the probable consequence ... of his conduct was that it would create an appreciable risk of serious injury”.

Ms Judd acknowledged that the matter had had a significant impact on Mr Rau and Mr Youssef and their families, and her decision was “not a reflection on the allegations or the harm they have suffered”.

But Mr Rau added: “My psychiatrist and psychologist were saying, ‘What are these people doing? They’re actually making you sicker. Not making you better’.”

A WorkSafe spokeswoman said the organisation accepted there was no prospect of a conviction, but it would “continue to support current or former MFB personnel who have sustained injuries as a result of alleged workplace behaviour”.

The saga comes the day after the Andrews Government revived its controversial bid to split the fire services.

The proposed laws would create a new agency called Fire Rescue Victoria that would replace the MFB and take in all paid firefighters in the Country Fire Authority.

FRV would take control of 38 “integrated” fire districts, with the CFA reduced to a volunteer-only organisation.

Critics fear the carve-up could sideline volunteer firefighters and deplete the CFA.

Emergency Management Minister Lisa Neville said: “We want to get this done, we want to move on.”

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