Former Victoria Police officer claims workplace bullying lead to “severe psychiatric injury”

A former detective is suing Victoria Police over claims of bullying by another officer so severe it triggered PTSD and left them incapable of working.

A former Victoria Police detective says she was bullied and harassed to such an extent she is now unable to work at all.

A former detective is suing Victoria Police over claims they were bullied by another officer so severely it triggered PTSD and left them incapable of working.

The plaintiff, who cannot be named because of a court-imposed gag order, appeared in the Geelong County Court on Thursday.

The court heard the harassment by one police officer, alleged to have occurred over a four-year period, was so extreme the plaintiff now suffered regular panic attacks, recurring nightmares and chronic major depressive disorder, leaving them “completely incapacitated”.

The court heard the plaintiff had been a dedicated police officer for many years.

They moved to the greater Geelong area after which the alleged bullying and harassment started, the court heard.

Despite being a detective, the plaintiff elected to work at a lower rank and began experiencing “unreasonable and manipulative behaviour” from one colleague.

The alleged perpetrating officer was described as “unpredictable” and “nasty”, on one occasion pointing to their firearm in a threatening manner “like they might use it on the plaintiff”, the court heard.

The sustained alleged bullying resulted in the plaintiff “starting to shake at work” and having anxiety attacks, resulting in depression and rendering them unfit to perform the role.

“It wasn’t until they had run-ins with this colleague that they started suffering these systems,” the plaintiff’s counsel Katharine Gladman told the court.

The court heard the plaintiff spoke to a direct supervisor in 2021 about the behaviour and a formal report was made, but no action was taken by Victoria Police.

They were unable to continue working and a work cover claim was made in April 2022.

The court heard they now suffered a “severe psychiatric injury”, with several psychiatrists claiming their PTSD is unlikely to improve.

The court heard had they not sustained these injuries they would have returned to full-time work in 2023.

WorkCover barrister Romesh Kumar, acting on behalf of the defendant, said they accepted the plaintiff had a psychiatric injury but questioned whether the injury would persist.

Judge Anna Robertson adjourned the civil matter part heard. It is scheduled to resume on Monday.

The case is subject to a pseudonym order to conceal the identities of those involved in the court proceedings.

Originally published as Former Victoria Police officer claims workplace bullying lead to “severe psychiatric injury”