Former Toowoomba Regional Council worker reveals examples of workplace bullying, silencing amid leaked survey results

A former employee of the Toowoomba Regional Council has revealed incidents of bullying, insults and coercion during their time in the organisation.

A former Toowoomba Regional Council employee has revealed years of bullying during their time in the organisation. Pic. Nicki Connolly

A former Toowoomba Regional Council employee has lifted the lid on the workplace culture within the organisation, citing numerous examples of bullying over several years that left the person mentally and emotionally ”worthless”.

The personal account, which included various incidents of coercion, insults and silencing, come more than a week after leaked details from a staff survey revealed just three per cent of bullying and sexual harassment cases were actually reported.

The survey found there were nearly 40 cases of sexual harassment and more than 320 bullying incidents in the 12 months to November 2020, but only a combined 11 formal complaints were actually lodged.

The ex-manager of a major award-winning branch of the council, who left only last year, said they were not surprised by the disparity between incidents and reported matters, considering they had been actively told not to make a formal complaint about bullying.

“I went to put in a complaint, and I was advised against it by (someone in human resources), saying doing so would make my life hell,” the former employee said.

“My staff faced bullying and harassment from other parts of council, and they witnessed me being abused (by higher-ups).

“They’d get me to the point where I’d cry and then they would laugh and say ‘I love our meetings’, because they thought (the meetings) were good for me.”

Examples of bullying at the TRC included the worker’s superiors on several occasions coercing them to sign off on council initiatives that they didn’t think were ready or correct.

On both incidents cited, the superior implied the employee’s job was at stake.

“I once had (a higher-up) sit down with me, and (they) insinuated that my job was on the line if I didn’t sign off on it,” they said.

In another example, a different superior told the worker they “couldn’t believe that someone with my level of skills was in my position”.

The worker said the toxic elements within the organisation wore them down, to the point where they were having physical health problems.

“After a while, it breaks you down — I was made to feel I was worthless and had no skills,” they said.

“I had basically lost all my self-esteem.

“It was actually impacting my health — I went into the hospital last year due to heart palpitations (due to stress).”

Councillors on Tuesday voted to have independent consultants look at the results from surveys in 2018 and 2020, focusing on the disparity of between cases and complaints.

The worker had suggestions for how to fix the culture.

“I think they need to sit down and talk to their staff, because they don’t,” they said.

“I had an open and honest culture in my branch, and my results were near the top (in the staff survey).

“We’re losing great people, and something needs to change.”

TRC CEO Brian Pidgeon. Picture: Kevin Farmer

COUNCIL CEO RESPONDS TO ALLEGATIONS

Council CEO Brian Pidgeon said the organisation was committed to creating changes within the organisation.

“The Toowoomba Regional Council cares about its staff, the contributions they make to the community and values the importance of providing them with a safe, healthy and nurturing environment,” he said.

“The staff survey has indicated there is a problem that we need to fix.

“I’m committed to working with council and our employees to stamp out any exposure to bullying, harassment and sexual harassment.

“We want to build a positive culture where staff feel safe, are engaged and have high levels of trust.

“We will engage with external consultants to undertake further investigations and set up mechanisms for staff to engage with independent consultants when making complaints.

“This was reinforced yesterday with councillors moving a motion to seek quotations from independent external consultants to review the results of the 2018 and 2020 staff surveys compared to the actual formal reporting of sexual harassment and bullying and harassment in the workplace.

“The motion also included a review of the responses council has already implemented to eliminate sexual harassment and bullying and harassment and to make recommendations on further actions council can take to eliminate this kind of behaviour from the workplace.

“In this particular case, council received a referral from the Crime and Corruption Commission, which received its information via the Ombudsman, in regards to a former employee’s grievances.

“A decision has been made that there is insufficient evidence to raise a reasonable suspicion that any corrupt conduct had taken place in relation to an allegation that supervisors exerted pressure to alter the content of the employee’s communications.

“Therefore it would be an unjustifiable use of resources to take any further action in relation to that part of the former employee’s grievances.

“In relation to the remaining allegations, I’m committed to ensuring independent investigators are engaged to look into these matters.

“It’s imperative confidentiality is maintained in relation to staff matters and as such, the identity of any person whose conduct is being investigated will not be disclosed.

“As with all allegations, those accused are entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.”