Fine For Work Bullying
The Age
Saturday April 8, 2000
A 19-year-old apprentice mechanic endured a 10-month campaign of physical and verbal abuse at the hands of two of his supervisors, a Melbourne court heard yesterday.
Dandenong Magistrates Court heard that two mechanics at Gearmatics, in Lower Dandenong Road, Mordialloc, subjected Mr Benjamin McKendry to ``atrocious and demeaning" treatment, forcing him to abandon his 12-month apprenticeship.
It was alleged that between 9 July 1998 and 26May last year, John Anthony Paul De Sensi and Tom Phillipson - both supervisors at Gearmatics - grabbed Mr McKendry's genitals, rubbed their groins against his anus and used a pressurised air gun to shoot grease at him.
The court heard they also exposed their genitals to him and threatened to set him alight. On two occasions Mr McKendry was forced to seek medical treatment for injuries he received.
The teenager's former employer, Dennis John Vines, 46, of Dingley, pleaded guilty to charges of failing to provide a safe workplace and failing to comply with asbestos regulations.
He was fined $15,000 and ordered to pay $1500 costs on the first charges and was fined $2000 on the last charge.
Mr Kevin Armstrong, prosecuting, said Mr De Sensi and Mr Phillipson would sometimes approach Mr McKendry and try to push a tool into his rectum or they would push their groins into his backside.
``I would fight back these attacks. I would swing my arms and kick. I would plead with them to stop but they would just laugh," Mr McKendry said in a statement read to the court.
Mr Armstrong said a psychologist found Mr McKendry had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and confusion as a result of the attacks.
Mr John Tuck, defending, said that Vines was ignorant of what went on in Gearmatic's workshop because he spent most of his time in the office. He said Vines, who had no prior convictions, had since joined an employer body to increase his awareness of occupational health and safety issues.
The magistrate, Ms Kay Macpherson, said the abuse suffered by Mr McKendry was ``atrocious and demeaning".
She soundly condemned the ``culture" of bullying in blue-collar workplaces and said employers must be vigilant to ensure that it did not exist.
© 2000 The Age