Architect Rob Mills and his firm face bullying allegations in Fair Work Commission

An award-winning Melbourne architect is the subject of bullying claims, with a recording revealing an employee was allegedly performance-managed out of her role before making claims about workplace issues | LISTEN

Architect Rob Mills faces claims of bullying by staff member Juliana Junqueira.

Award-winning Melbourne architect Rob Mills is the subject of bullying allegations made by a staff architect, with a hot mic recording revealing she was allegedly performance-managed out of her role before making claims about workplace issues.

Architect Juliana Junqueira obtained WorkCover insurance after making the allegations, and it is understood she has now lodged a stop bullying application with the Fair Work Commission.

“I am speaking out not only for myself but also for other employees who may have faced similar treatment at RMA [Rob Mills ­Architecture],” she told The Australian.

The Sydney-based 35-year-old has alleged that between late March and July she was called a “trained assassin” and told not to rely “on looks” in meetings, was pressured to work excessive hours and, after trying to discuss better ways to communicate with Mr Mills, she alleged she was excluded from meetings and placed on a performance improvement plan.

Rob Mills of Rob Mills Architecture & Interiors. Picture: Herald Sun.

Ms Junqueira told The Australian she was a professional woman who had been an architect for 12 years with no prior WorkCover claims. She said she had not experienced similar ­issues as what she has alleged took place during her time with Mr Mills’s firm.

A spokeswoman called Ms Junqueira’s claims “baseless” and said Mr Mills and the firm would “vigorously defend” them.

“RMA has been a leading architectural and interior practice for 32 years, is led by women and has various employees who have enjoyed being part of the team for over two decades,” she said.

“The claimant’s characterisation of both Rob Mills and the RMA workplace culture are at odds with the lived work experience. During the approximately three months the claimant worked in the office, all and every effort was made to try and make her employment a success.”

A source told The Australian four WorkCover claims had been lodged against Mr Mills, either current or past cases.

Asked if this indicated a poor workplace culture, Mr Mills’s spokeswoman said: “Mr Mills further denies that there is a poor workplace culture at RMA and is committed to working with Work Cover on any matter raised.”

The Fair Work Commission rejected a last-minute application lodged by Mr Mills and his firm to suppress the matter.

Ms Junqueira alleged in April that Mr Mills called her a “trained assassin” in a meeting with other team members and dismissed her concerns about his communication style as “bullshit”.

A spokeswoman said Mr Mills “did refer to Ms Junqueira as a trained assassin” but the “remark was intended as a lighthearted acknowledgment of Ms Junqueira’s strong work ethic”. She denied that Mr Mills dismissed her concerns as “bullshit”.

Covid safe apartments in Melbourne designed by Rob Mills architecture. Picture: supplied

Further, during a meeting in June Ms Junqueira alleged Mr Mills directed a comment to her about “not relying on looks to be successful”, or words to that ­effect. Ms Junqueira said she felt humiliated by that comment.

Mr Mills denies making this comment directly to Ms Junqueira, his spokeswoman said. The same month, Ms Junqueira ­alleged she sent an email to Mr Mills to address his alleged “harsh and dismissive behaviour in writing”. And in mid-June, she alleged she was excluded from meetings and tasks she was previously involved in. Mr Mills denies this.

Shortly afterwards, she received a meeting invitation to review her performance. A copy of the performance improvement plan, seen by The Australian, said “midpoint probationary review – deficiencies identified”.

One example included of Ms Junqueira’s “deficiency” is that she was “working in isolation”: “progressing designs and conceptual work independently that is not aligned with the RMA way or project briefs”.

Ms Junqueira is accused of “creating conflict in the workplace”, and an example of this listed is her “strong-willed approach in day-to-day tasks resulting in lack of cohesive outcomes”. It also claims she is resistant to feedback.

Rob Mills built home, Armadale. Picture: Herald Sun.

Ms Junqueira said she welcomed constructive feedback and was grateful for opportunities to learn. Mr Mills’s spokeswoman said “three months is a reasonable period of time for an employee of Ms Junqueira’s seniority to have settled into her role.”

“(The performance plan) did not require her to not be strong-willed, except insofar as her strong will prevented collaboration and cohesive outcomes,” she said.

Ms Junqueira alleged in late June and early July she was subject to “unreasonable work demands”, which included ex­cessive working hours and being required to perform jobs outside her role description not within reason. She claimed she regularly started work between 5am-6am and finished between 10pm-11pm on work days and weekends. Mr Mills’s spokeswoman denied this, and said: “During her PIP, ­Juliana’s workload was reduced to 50 per cent and then even further to 20 per cent”.

Ms Junqueira submitted a detailed response to her performance improvement plan, in which she outlined her “alignment” with the firm’s principles.

Ms Junqueira has lodged a stop-bullying application with the Fair Work Commission, and has successfully obtained WorkCover via a private insurer before the firm tried to make her position of studio director redundant.

Rob Mills Lorne property, sold for more than $4m. Picture: Supplied.

A hot mic recorded Rob Mills Architecture employees discussing Ms Junqueira after they discussed her performance improve­ment plan with her.

The meeting was automatically recorded by the company and delivered to Ms Junqueira. But it didn’t just record their discussion about performance, it carried on after the meeting ended, and picked up members of the team discussing Ms Junqueira in her absence.

Mr Mills – who did not participate in the meeting with Ms Junqueira but chimed in afterwards – can be heard saying: “Did, uh, we specify it as performance management … In writing?”

He is then also heard saying: “So that’s WorkCover off … It’s been made nice and we performance-managed her. So that’s only general protections, which I don’t think she could do.”

Mr Mills wanted to ensure that Ms Junqueira “understood that a formal performance improvement plan was in place to improve her performance”, when asked about the recording.

Before she was placed on a performance improvement plan, Ms Junqueira alleges she received positive feedback from Mr Mills including comments that her work on a project was “world class” and that she had “amazing design skills”.

As a result of the alleged experiences at Rob Mills Architecture, Ms Junqueira said her mental health had suffered.

She says there was no health and safety representative for staff to escalate their concerns to above Mr Mills. But the architect’s spokeswoman said there was no legal requirement for one.