Public servant who mocked German co-worker loses workplace appeal

A public servant working for the Department of Main Roads has been reprimanded after she admitted calling her German co-worker “Helga” behind her back and using the phrase “nein, nein”.

Nikki Hornberg, a project costing officer with TMR in Warwick, took her case to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission after a penalty of reprimand was imposed and she was ordered to do additional training.

An independent investigation into Hornberg’s actions revealed that between March and December 2023, she made disrespectful comments about a co-worker, including referring to her as “Helga” and stating “nein, nein”, or words to that effect.

Department of Transport and Main Roads customer service centre in Warwick.

The co-worker was a German woman.

In the decision, handed down on July 17, the QIRC said many of Hornberg’s submissions and grounds in her appeal notice were irrelevant or misconceived. She claimed “the decision was made on the balance of probabilities, not factual evidence”, and that the interviewer used “persuasive and suggestive tactics”.

“Suffice to say that, despite some flaws in the investigation process, there was more than adequate evidence of the impugned conduct. This included Hornberg’s own admission,” Industrial Commissioner John Dwyer said.

Hornberg contended her case should have been dealt with as a performance issue at a local level instead of as a disciplinary issue.

Dwyer found the decision for disciplinary action was fair and reasonable, and found no difficulty with the characterisation of her actions as “misconduct”.

Dwyer said Hornberg conceded she used the name “Helga” in reference to her co-worker, who she clashed with over an entry in a timesheet.

Witnesses said after the clash, Hornberg appeared to treat the co-worker in a rude or abrupt manner.

“There was ample evidence that Hornberg could be difficult to work with, and that she appeared to have a difficult relationship with the co-worker in question,” the decision found.

Dwyer noted that witnesses, including a manager, also considered the co-worker to be abrupt in her communication style, and they did not consider the “Helga” reference to be offensive.

“While these witness accounts might point to a permissive attitude with respect to such conduct, that is most likely a reflection of the ineptitude of managers who were aware of the conduct and failed to manage it,” he said.

Dwyer said it was plain from the evidence that Hornberg was using the name disrespectfully, and that nicknames used in private were rarely compliments.

However, he said he was not entirely certain Hornberg’s intention was malicious when she used the name “Helga”, and he was not entirely convinced that the evidence supporting the “nein, nein” allegation was particularly strong. However, Hornberg did not exercise her right to appeal that finding.

“In any event... the admission of the use of the name ‘Helga’ when referring to the co-worker in question is enough, of itself, to justify the sanction imposed,” he said.

He said there could be no doubt the choice of the name “Helga” was a form of racial stereotyping.

“The deliberate choice of a name that has such evident Germanic roots, when used furtively with other co-workers and in the context of a somewhat fraught workplace relationship, unnecessarily draws attention to the race of the co-worker in question in a mocking way,” Dwyer said.

Dwyer said while Hornberg had every right to a determination of her appeal, her ongoing insistence that the sanction was unfair and unreasonable demonstrated she continued to “lack critical insight into the objective seriousness of her conduct.”

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