Senior public servant allegedly busted trash-talking new director-general

A senior manager in a Queensland government department was allegedly caught trash-talking a new director-general and another senior officer over the Microsoft Teams messaging platform and phone calls.

Senior public servant Karen Dawson.Credit: LinkedIn

A workplace appeal application from Department of Primary Industries executive manager Karen Dawson was dismissed, with the senior public servant to face internal disciplinary action after she made “inappropriate and unprofessional” remarks about Graeme Bolton soon after he was unveiled as director-general last year.

It was also alleged she shared disparaging comments about other department employees, with some of the trash-talking shared with colleagues who report to her.

According to a ruling from the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, Dawson dismissed claims she engaged in disrespectful conversations about two colleagues as an “honest debrief in response to workplace events”. She also claimed her remarks were “factual”.

She said the comments were “private, reactive, and not intended to be disrespectful”.

In response to claims she slagged off Bolton over a Teams chat, Dawson said the “private” views shared were “based on our professional knowledge and experience”.

She said the remarks about the new department boss were “informed by observable workplace dynamics” and were never intended to be “taken out of context and misrepresented”.

Dawson told the commission her discussions were not directed at individuals in a “malicious manner, but rather reflected honest reactions to workplace dynamics”.

But the department said the remarks about Bolton shared with a subordinate of hers were “inappropriate, unprofessional and improper”, and a “serious breach of the professional boundaries with a direct report and not aligned with building and maintaining positive relationships”.

Director-General Graeme Bolton.Credit: Queensland Government

In handing down her ruling in late June, Industrial Commissioner Samantha Pidgeon said Dawson’s messages shared on Teams “speak for themselves”.

“It was open to the decision-maker to determine that Ms Dawson’s interactions with a subordinate regarding the appointment of the Director-General and a senior officer in the Office of the Director-General were a serious breach of professional boundaries and the expectations of her role as Employee A’s manager,” according to the ruling.

A management figure in the department slammed Dawson’s behaviour in comments included in the commissioner’s ruling, saying it is “extremely concerning to me how poorly you think of your colleagues”.

“You take little accountability and prefer to justify your behaviour,” they said.

“You have generally shown little remorse for your behaviour and the impact you had on others. You have displayed a distinct lack of awareness of your own behaviour.

“As an Executive Manager … your work may at times become more stressful. As such, I reasonably expect that you would have been able to respond on all of the alleged occasions in a professional manner, not in an emotive, inappropriate way.”

The department said there was no context in which “repeatedly making disparaging and derogatory comments about other employees to a subordinate is appropriate or acceptable”.

Pidgeon’s ruling was in response to Dawson’s appeal of the disciplinary action, which was filed one day outside the statutory timeframe. She claimed she was on leave at the time and the decision letter was left unopened in her inbox.

“Despite this, she went on leave understanding the nature of the decision that had been made,” Pidgeon wrote.

“So much is demonstrated by her acknowledgement of the matter being raised with her just before she went on leave and stating that ‘it was not exactly a pleasant send-off’.”

In Dawson’s submissions to the commission, she also said she had received confirmation that the allegations were substantiated, and that the decision was issued two days before her 50th birthday.

She said the milestone she planned to spend with family had instead been overshadowed by shock and anxiety.

Pidgeon said making an active choice not to deal with the matter because she was beginning leave to celebrate a milestone birthday was not an acceptable explanation for the delay.

In handing down her decision, Pidgeon said Dawson had received procedural fairness throughout the disciplinary process.

She also said Dawson’s proposed disciplinary action was not termination of her employment, and therefore she would retain the right to appeal any disciplinary action taken against her.

Dawson told the commission she remained committed to the public sector and to learning from the experience, and that she “only asks for the opportunity to move forward with fairness and dignity”.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.