CSIRO scientists at the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex have endured a workplace lolly ban for nearly a year after employer-supplied sweets were declared too risky to workers' safety.
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In an episode that became known as ''lollygate'' at the world famous research station, the banning-order was slapped in place in April last year after a workers' compensation claim by a former technician who broke a tooth on a CSIRO-supplied sweet.
The worker, Jack Hoffman, went on to lose his job at CSIRO four months later in another food-related incident, alleging that he was sacked for stopping at McDonald's for a Big Mac hamburger. The former researcher has now had his Comcare claim for psychological injuries rejected by the Commonwealth workplace insurer and intends to take his battle for compensation to the Administrative Appeal Tribunal if he fails to have his case reconsidered.
Human Resources Manager at the CDSCC research centre Linda Francis told workers at the complex last April that ''effective immediately'', there would be a ban on supplying lollies for workers to eat.
''This is a risk mitigation directive, and will ensure that CSIRO does not hold liability for injuries sustained by an employee choosing to consume confectionary during the course of their working day,'' Ms Francis wrote in an email to staff.
''At this stage no directive has been given regarding provision of biscuits. However, I will be seeking guidance in relation to this - should there be any change to the current arrangement I will advice [sic] you via email.''
In his claim to Comcare for psychological injuries said to have been suffered during his time in Tidbinbilla, Mr Hoffman maintains he endured a backlash from colleagues in the wake of the lolly ban, alleging his co-workers blamed him for the confectionary crackdown.
Mr Hoffman alleges an angry workplace confrontation over the lolly ban where a colleague, incensed by the loss of employer-supplied sweets, confronted him at his desk.
''You f---ed it up for everyone at CDSCC,'' the co-worker is alleged to have told Mr Hoffman.
Mr Hoffman resigned from the CSIRO in July last year while facing disciplinary action over the unauthorised uses of an official vehicle to buy hamburgers. At the time of his resignation, the 50-year-old had received two written warnings about inappropriate workplace behaviour and been told by his superiors to stop using the work car for stops at the McDonald's drive-thru. His unfair dismissal case at Fair Work Australia failed in February but Mr Hoffman is pursuing his Comcare claim, producing medical evidence that he suffers from ''adjustment disorder with mixed emotional features''.
Mr Hoffman said that ''bullying and harassment'' by the CSIRO, mostly since the lolly incident of March 21, 2012 caused his illness.
But the science organisation denies the allegations. It told Comcare that its treatment of Mr Hoffman was reasonable administrative action and denied liability.
Comcare has rejected Mr Hoffman's claim, deciding that his experience at Tidbinbilla did not contribute sufficiently to his psychological condition to justify a workers' compensation payout.
The insurer also rejected Mr Hoffman's ''very strong allegations'' that he was bullied, mobbed, subjected to a ''Stalinist-style show trial'', and that managers fabricated stories about him, with Comcare finding the CSIRO's evidence more convincing than the former researcher's.
Mr Hoffman says he will now seek a reconsideration of the Comcare decision and, if unsuccessful, will take his case to the AAT.
