A professor who was sacked after sending his PhD student “gushing” romantic messages and a photo of himself in his boxers has won a legal bid to get his University of Melbourne job back.
Stephan Matthai, former University of Melbourne professor of geotechnical engineering, has won a legal battle to get his job back.
Professor Stephan Matthai was dismissed on December 17, 2024, for inappropriate behaviour towards a female PhD student seven years earlier.
A Fair Work Commission tribunal found that while the now-62-year-old’s behaviour constituted misconduct and was a breach of workplace behaviour policy, the university was made aware of it in 2017, and he had been in the role for the past seven years with an unblemished record.
Deputy president Alan Colman said the sacking was harsh and unfair, and that if Matthai had been dismissed when the misconduct occurred, when he was 55 years old, he may have had more opportunities for re-employment.
The University of Melbourne is considering appealing the decision.
Matthai moved to Melbourne from Germany in 2015 to work as the chair of reservoir engineering at the university.
In 2017, the student, whose identity has been protected, wrote to Matthai from her home country asking him to be her PhD supervisor for a doctor of philosophy. She received a scholarship and moved to Melbourne in March 2017.
In May, Matthai invited members of the research group to his birthday party. From her personal email account, the student sent him a poem she had written. He responded with a poem from a poet from her country.
He was recovering from a break-up, and the student told him she had left an abusive relationship. They texted, emailed and video-called each other for two months.
In “mawkish” text messages and emails sent between the two in 2017, Matthai discussed intimate details about his personal life. He moved communications from his professional email address to his private email to avoid being seen by “UoM internet security people”.
“It is our very own private conversation ... and yes, we have the pleasure of getting a glimpse of this together and it is really beautiful reawakening. We share this on a deep intuitive level,” he wrote to the woman.
The University of Melbourne is considering appealing the decision.Credit: Penny Stephens
He described their communication as an “expedition into uncharted territory”, saying it was exciting “more than gambling is”, and that a FaceTime with her was a “moment of bliss”.
Matthai sent her a photo of himself in his boxer shorts, saying it was to demonstrate he had an ectomorph body type, to which she responded: “Can I love you German professor?” He replied: “You do not need my permission, do you?”
He later revealed to an external investigator he’d sent the photo because he had been feeling “unworthy and abandoned” and needed some “positive feedback”. Matthai added that the student had sought to strip during a FaceTime conversation, but he stopped her.
Matthai wrote to the student, saying they’d both been missing so much in their lives.
‘We are like the dry soil soaking up the autumn rain after a long hot summer. It is very beautiful and caresses our souls, but it should not give you pain. You know that I am barely coping with the separation from [omitted].’
One of Stephan Matthai’s messages to the PhD student
“We are like the dry soil soaking up the autumn rain after a long hot summer. It is very beautiful and caresses our souls, but it should not give you pain. You know that I am barely coping with the separation from [omitted],” he said.
Colman said Matthai should have ensured all his interactions with the student remained work-related, “scrupulously avoiding any word or gesture that could have been suggestive of intimacy”.
“Matthai put his own emotional needs before those of [the student]. And he continued to use mawkish, romantic language and to discuss intimate topics. This was highly inappropriate.”
Matthai argued that during this time, he was struggling with a difficult break-up, which impacted his judgment. He said he tried to manage the student’s expectations after realising she had developed feelings for him.
Colman said he did so “ineptly”, especially to a student with English as a second language.
On July 3, 2017, Matthai was called into a meeting with the department head, who said the student had made a complaint about him and asked to change her supervisor.
Matthai said he was not provided details of the complaint, but agreed to the swap.
In 2018, the student told the university’s HR department that Matthai did not have appropriate boundaries and that some of his comments made her feel uncomfortable, but she did not want to make a formal complaint as she was worried it could jeopardise her PhD.
The student complained to the University of Melbourne’s HR department.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Years later, in January 2024, the student made a formal complaint about Matthai to HR. Among other things, she alleged Matthai had “sexually and mentally abused her” for 14 months.
The university hired an external investigator, who analysed 141 texts and emails, which included declarations of love by the student for Matthai.
Sexual harassment was not part of the investigation, and Matthai denied any abuse.
The investigator found Matthai breached the university’s workplace behaviour policy by communicating in an intimate, unprofessional, personal and inappropriate way.
Matthai told the university he had not been romantically interested in the student but did not want to hurt her feelings. Any suggestion he was pursuing a relationship with her was “simply wrong”, he said.
He also argued that communication with the student was out of work hours, but Colman said that didn’t matter.
“He agreed that he had acted unprofessionally and said his judgment had been adversely affected by his emotional state at the time,” Colman said.
In December 2024, Matthai lost his job without notice. The university’s external investigator said his termination was constituted by the “severity of the conduct, the significant power imbalance” and the fact that Matthai had “engaged in wilful and deliberate contraventions of the AWB policy, which he had explicitly acknowledged”.
But in a decision by the Fair Work Commission this month, Colman said Matthai should get his job back.
Colman said Matthai’s behaviour in 2017 would have been a valid reason for dismissal due to breach of his contract; however, the complaint was not made until 2024, and Matthai had been the one to provide the investigation with the messages between him and the student.
Colman said Matthai was effectively given seven years to prove to the university that his misconduct was isolated. He also said he was confident the behaviour would not reoccur.
“He has seen and felt the consequences of such behaviour.”
A University of Melbourne spokeswoman said the university was disappointed by the order to reinstate Matthai after his dismissal in December 2024.
“The university is considering its options to appeal the decision, and will not comment further on this matter at this time,” she said.
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