By Ray Fulcher
The Western Australian branch of the Public Sector Union is refusing to help a union member, who resigned after 12 years with the Department of Social Security. Colin Harrison cited the mishandling of a privacy investigation and disregard for his hearing impairment as reasons for his resignation.
Harrison, with only one-third hearing in a single ear, has put up with discrimination on the job for most of his working life. A clerical worker in Perth DSS, he was required to work on the counter, but management refused to provide him with an adequate hearing aid. The only concession to his disability was a volume-adjustable phone — at his desk.
In January an investigative officer told Harrison a client had brought allegations of misconduct and breaches of privacy against him. Breaches of privacy carry mandatory criminal charges. Colin was interviewed on the same day, but was not given anything in writing. No-one with an understanding of deafness has been involved in the case.
Since February 3, Harrison's sister Jane had been attempting to find out about the results of the investigation. The Perth DSS manager consistently failed to return her calls.
On March 11, suffering from stress, Harrison resigned.
Three days later Jane rang Colin's manager and was told the privacy charges had been dropped. This is a clear breach of the department's own guidelines, which state that a person should be advised "in writing within 14 days" of the interview about the result of the investigation.
It was not until 35 days after the interview, and after he had resigned, that Colin was advised the charges against him were baseless.
Jane was also told that, should Colin be re-employed by the public service, the misconduct charges would be reactivated.
Having learned that the most serious allegations were unfounded, Colin requested that his resignation be revoked. The department refused.
Jane contacted the WA branch of the PSU to seek help for Colin but was told that since he had resigned, it would not help him. "They didn't seem concerned about the broader ramifications of the handling of the whole thing for their members", said Jane.
She then appealed to the delegates' committee but was advised that since Colin had not approached the PSU within 14 days of resigning, they too were unable to help.
Jane and Colin have approached the WA Equal Opportunity Board, which has forwarded the case to the Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission in Sydney.