Toxic culture, punishment and suicidal lawyers: allegations against NSW DPP Sally Dowling’s office
Safe Work NSW is making enquiries about untested allegations of bullying, censorship, and ‘serious maladministration’ levelled at the office of chief prosecutor Sally Dowling SC.
The NSW workplace safety watchdog is probing untested allegations of bullying, censorship, and maladministration levelled at the office of chief prosecutor Sally Dowling SC, amid claims the organisation punishes solicitors who give “courageous advice” against running sexual assault trials with insufficient evidence.
SafeWork NSW has appointed two inspectors to make enquiries about a public interest disclosure made by a former long-term solicitor of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, who worked at the organisation for about 16 years.
The Australian understands the inspectors have been provided with a list of more than 25 former and current employees who are willing to speak about workplace health and safety issues plaguing the organisation.
The 21-page disclosure makes allegations of “serious maladministration” levelled directly at senior staff, and includes claims that ODPP finance chief Michael Goddard allegedly observed it as an organisation that “leads through fear” and said that “the fish rots from the head”.
An ODPP spokesperson said the office had “not received any formal notice of the complaint referred to, but following enquiries with SafeWork NSW understands that an anonymous complaint has been filed”.
“The ODPP does not understand SafeWork NSW to have commenced any formal investigation,” the spokesperson said.
“The contents of the complaint as communicated to the ODPP by The Australian are false and misleading in material respects.
“The ODPP utterly rejects that it has a ‘culture of bullying, censorship or serious maladministration’. These serious allegations against ODPP staff, including the director, are false and are utterly rejected.”
The ex-employee attached their name to the disclosure, but The Australian has chosen to keep the person anonymous.
The Australian understands a SafeWork inspector expects to meet with the ODPP on November 8.
The disclosure includes claims that ODPP staff experience long-term mental pressures that have led to suicidal ideation.
The ex-employee alleges that, in their opinion, Ms Dowling was “cold and dismissive” in a meeting discussing staff mental health, bullying allegations and concerns raised by three employees about a staircase in the new ODPP building being a suicide risk.
“The staircase in the new building Parkline Place was designed by Davenport & Campbell architects. The design was approved by Property NSW, and it is compliant with Australian Standards,” the ODPP spokesperson said.
“Some time ago an ex-employee raised issues of suicide in a group staff meeting in relation to the staircase. Issues around suicide are extremely sensitive, and a group setting was not considered an appropriate or safe forum to raise this serious concern. The matter was discussed privately with the employee. Welfare counselling is available for all employees.”
The ex-employee raised concerns over a solicitor who they understand was pulled off sexual-assault matters after she recommended a rape prosecution be terminated.
“Her managing solicitor allegedly got permission from the executive to pull her from all sexual-assault matters, without the solicitor’s knowledge,” the ex-employee wrote.
The case was, however, eventually terminated, the ex-employee understands. “The solicitor made a formal complaint of bullying which was found not to be substantiated,” the ex-employee said.
It is not being suggested that Ms Dowling herself was involved in this case.
Turmoil in the office
The disclosure comes amid a tumultuous period for Ms Dowling and her office, with The Australian on Monday revealing the results of an internal ODPP survey that showed less than half of employees felt favourably towards the senior executive team, with just over 40 per cent believing the stress of their job was manageable.
Five District Court judges over the past 18 months have made allegations that the organisation has run baseless rape trials that have no hope of securing a conviction.
As a result of the allegations, Ms Dowling launched an internal audit of all rape cases committed to trial this year. As a result of the audit, at least 15 cases were discontinued.
Ms Dowling has taken out three complaints with the state’s judicial watchdog against judges who had levelled criticism at her office – one against judge Robert Newlinds that has been upheld, another partially upheld and a third with an unknown outcome.
Separately, District Court judge Penelope Wass has filed an official complaint with the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner saying, in her opinion, Ms Dowling tried to “exert influence” over her when engaging in private communications with the court’s chief judge in the middle of the criminal hearing.
The result of that complaint is also unknown. An ODPP spokesperson previously told The Australian Ms Dowling has formally responded to Judge Wass’s complaint, and it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Morale plunges
The ex-employee, who made the public interest disclosure to the NSW Ombudsman, said: “In the past two years I have seen the worst morale I have ever seen in my 16 years at this office.”
The ex-employee noted that bullying by some managers and crown prosecutors “had been a problem at the DPP since I started in 2008”.
“I particularly recall a notorious crown prosecutor … in 2010, who bullied me relentlessly while I was instructing him in a trial at Parramatta District Court,” the ex-employee wrote in the disclosure.
“One day he raised his voice and physically intimidated me by looming over me in the courtroom, for the offence of attending the correct courtroom that morning and failing to message him about the change in room.
“A court officer by the name of Evie came up to me during a break and told me that if I ever wanted to report him, that she would give evidence against him … Later, that same crown prosecutor would reduce me to tears at the office; he later confessed to my managing lawyer that he had made me cry but she did nothing about it.”
The ex-employee said it was “well known” among solicitors which managing lawyers and crown prosecutors to avoid.
“One managing solicitor is so notorious for her bullying that new solicitors, upon joining her group, are told by the others in the group to get PSA (Public Service Association) membership immediately; it is known as ‘(managing lawyer’s name) insurance’,” the ex-employee wrote. “Her group has the highest rate of PSA membership in the entire office.”
The ex-employee criticised the organisation for failing to implement a vicarious trauma policy, especially considering the amount of terrible material solicitors and crown prosecutors were expected to examine as part of the job.
“The DPP has no way of monitoring or capturing data on how much traumatic material is in briefs of evidence, and does not monitor how much and for how long staff see such material,” the disclosure reads. “There is also no policy that sets out protocols for when and how long such material should be viewed.“
‘Suicide staircase’
One key example of alleged “serious maladministration” included in the ex-employee’s disclosure related to the staircase in the new ODPP offices.
In the disclosure, the ex-employee, a PSA delegate, says they were approached by three solicitors who raised “what they felt was a risk of suicide from the four-storey internal staircase that was a feature of the new premises”.
The ex-employee raised the matter at a meeting of the Relocation Working Group, which met weekly to discuss “work health and safety issues arising from the move to the new premises at Parkline Place”.
Over a week later, the ex-employee met Ms Dowling for a pre-scheduled “Chat with the Director” – an initiative Ms Dowling had set up to have “informal” and “honest” conversations with her employees.
“I said that,, as a result of being a senior solicitor, mentor, ‘mental health first aider’ and friend, many people tell me their problems,” the ex-employee wrote in the disclosure, saying they told Ms Dowling about various instances where colleagues had revealed their suicidal tendencies.
“At about 2.30pm she said she wanted to circle back to the staircase issue. She said that she wanted to talk to me about what had happened at the working group meeting. She … told me that it was inappropriate for me to have brought it up at the meeting.
“I asked her what she meant. She said that I should not have brought it up at the meeting because it upset some people who might have their own experiences of suicide. I did not know who she was speaking of, and said that the whole point of the meeting was to bring up risks in relation to the new building, and that this was what members had expressed to me.”
Director’s anger
The ex-employee said Ms Dowling “snapped” and said: “I don’t want the staircase to become a negative symbol of this organisation, it’s just a staircase, it’s not going to be changed, and (a manager) is going to talk to you about your inappropriate behaviour.”
After the ex-employee became very upset, Ms Dowling appeared to “back track”.
The issue, the ex-employee said, was never dealt with.
The ODPP spokesperson said the office had “an extensive range of polices and practices in place that address the issue of vicarious trauma, including training, education, practice management strategies, a Psychosocial Risk Register, an Employee Assistance Program and regular Wellbeing Checks”.
“All award-based staff (including solicitors) are entitled to overtime in accordance with the relevant Crown Employees award. All employment and recruitment action within the ODPP is merit-based,” the spokesperson said.
“The ODPP takes allegations of bullying extremely seriously, and complaints are thoroughly investigated in accordance with the ODPP’s Respectful Workplace Policy.
“The ODPP emphasises that feedback on bullying in the latest People Matters Employee Survey includes reference to bullying of staff by persons external to the ODPP, which includes judicial bullying.
“As was reflected by the findings of the Conduct Division of the NSW Judicial Commission into the director’s complaint about Judge Newlinds, ODPP staff have been bullied in that context.”
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