Melbourne Intercontinental Hotel: Bullies made workplace toxic’
A quarantine worker says she was bullied after refusing to sign a document she believed covered up a manager’s infection control breaches.
A frontline quarantine hotel worker complained to management that she was being bullied and harassed by colleagues after refusing to sign a document she believed covered up a manager’s infection control breaches.
According to an incident report dated April 22, the Intercontinental Hotel staffer requested she be immediately transferred to another team because of what she described as “hostile and intimidating” behaviour.
“I believe that it is not healthy or fair for me to remain in that toxic and hostile environment,” she said in a statement reproduced in the incident report.
“In all my working life, I have never been met with this kind of behaviour or had to write such an email. It makes me sad that I have to do it now.”
According to the woman, the bullying started after her team leader was stood down for alleged breaches of policy and procedures and she refused to sign a letter supporting the leader.
“Some of my colleagues have apparently formed an unfair and unjust opinion that I am the reason for the action taken against (redacted) and, consequently, their behaviour has dramatically changed towards me and has been less than friendly,” the woman said.
She said her colleagues either treated her with hostility or ignored her, making her feel that her position was no longer tenable. “It began with me declining to sign a letter/petition in defence of (redacted),” she wrote. “I declined to not blindly sign this letter because I do not know the true allegations levelled at (redacted) and that letter also states accepting ‘100% responsibility’ for the breaches that occurred.”
She said she was not working on the night the alleged breaches occurred, and “did not want a permanent record on file with HR for actions I did not commit”.
“This letter was circulated by this group for the purpose of weeding out the ‘mole’ who reported (redacted) to management,” she said. “They employed tactics that were intimidating and coercive to force others to sign to prove their innocence.”
The woman said “this level of bullying” was not justified by their “feeble” attempt to defend the team leader. “They have just demeaned the whole process with their mob mentality. I would like to state that it is not everyone in the group displaying this behaviour but the ones that are behaving poorly are very loud and powerful about it,” she said. “There are other incidents that have occurred, like the incessant whispering and passive aggressive comments spoken out aloud and obviously directed at me.
“I know they are directed at me because I was told by others in the group that the main ringleaders discuss it constantly and have agreed that I am the ‘one’ who reported (redacted). I no longer wish to remain in that group. I can only rise above that nonsensical and intimidating behaviour for so long and it is already affecting me.”
The Australian contacted COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria for comment but did not receive a response before deadline.
