Director-General Graeme Bolton.Credit: Queensland Government
In handing down her ruling in late June, Industrial Commissioner Samantha Pidgeon said Dawson’s messages shared on Teams “speak for themselves”.
“It was open to the decision-maker to determine that Ms Dawson’s interactions with a subordinate regarding the appointment of the Director-General and a senior officer in the Office of the Director-General were a serious breach of professional boundaries and the expectations of her role as Employee A’s manager,” according to the ruling.
A management figure in the department slammed Dawson’s behaviour in comments included in the commissioner’s ruling, saying it is “extremely concerning to me how poorly you think of your colleagues”.
“You take little accountability and prefer to justify your behaviour,” they said.
“You have generally shown little remorse for your behaviour and the impact you had on others. You have displayed a distinct lack of awareness of your own behaviour.
“As an Executive Manager … your work may at times become more stressful. As such, I reasonably expect that you would have been able to respond on all of the alleged occasions in a professional manner, not in an emotive, inappropriate way.”
The department said there was no context in which “repeatedly making disparaging and derogatory comments about other employees to a subordinate is appropriate or acceptable”.
Pidgeon’s ruling was in response to Dawson’s appeal of the disciplinary action, which was filed one day outside the statutory timeframe. She claimed she was on leave at the time and the decision letter was left unopened in her inbox.
“Despite this, she went on leave understanding the nature of the decision that had been made,” Pidgeon wrote.
“So much is demonstrated by her acknowledgement of the matter being raised with her just before she went on leave and stating that ‘it was not exactly a pleasant send-off’.”
In Dawson’s submissions to the commission, she also said she had received confirmation that the allegations were substantiated, and that the decision was issued two days before her 50th birthday.
She said the milestone she planned to spend with family had instead been overshadowed by shock and anxiety.
Pidgeon said making an active choice not to deal with the matter because she was beginning leave to celebrate a milestone birthday was not an acceptable explanation for the delay.
In handing down her decision, Pidgeon said Dawson had received procedural fairness throughout the disciplinary process.
She also said Dawson’s proposed disciplinary action was not termination of her employment, and therefore she would retain the right to appeal any disciplinary action taken against her.
Dawson told the commission she remained committed to the public sector and to learning from the experience, and that she “only asks for the opportunity to move forward with fairness and dignity”.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Read the full article here
