Why We Need To Honour Brodie's Law

Many stories I write or share for SPA+CLINIC involve workplace dynamics. No matter how big or small your business, how your employees interact with each other, and you (and how you deal with them and issues among them), is key to their wellbeing and that of your salon, spa or clinic’s fortunes. Literally.

Recently I attended an in-house presentation at The Intermedia Group, which publishes SPA+CLINIC among many other titles, about bullying and harassment. That is, what constitutes each, how it impacts on both employer and employees, and how to nip both issues in the bud to avoid worst case scenarios – eg. ending up in the Federal Court.

David Bates, Managing Director of Workforce Guardian*, took us through the laws and nuances that guide workplace practices in Australia today.

He provided case studies to illustrate the issues we face, as employers and employees. The one that stood out to me and colleagues, however, was Brodie’s Law.

Who is Brodie? And why was a law passed in her name?

The official version: “Victoria’s anti-bullying legislation, known as Brodie’s Law, commenced in June 2011 and made serious bullying a crime punishable by up to 10 years in jail. Brodie’s Law was introduced after the tragic suicide of a young woman, Brodie Panlock, who was subjected to relentless bullying in her workplace.”

Brodie was 17 when she went to work for Cafe Vamp in Melbourne’s Hawthorn in 2005. In September the following year, then 19, Brodie ended her life (six months after a failed suicide attempt) as a result of enduring ongoing humiliating and intimidating bullying by cafe owner Marc Luis Da Cruz, the manager (and Brodie’s occasional lover) Nicholas Smallwood, chef Gabriel Toomey and co-worker Rhys MacAlpine.

The tragedy of Brodie’s death was compounded by the fact that none of those responsible for bullying her were charged with a serious criminal offence under the Crimes Act 1958.

Instead, each offender was convicted and fined under provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The owner of the cafe was fined $250,000 and went bankrupt, but the biggest penalties that could be imposed on the other three were $5000 each.

As David Bates pointed out, even more galling was that the four men showed no remorse as they attended court hearings, laughing and back-slapping each other.

Brodie’s death was a tragic reminder of the serious consequences that bullying can have on victims, their families and the community and illustrated that there were obvious limitations in the law and conduct involving serious bullying should be subject to criminal sanctions.

Her parents, Damian and Rae Panlock (pictured at top with their daughter’s portrait), established Brodie’s Law Foundation in her memory and they have requested Brodie’s be used as a case study in HR presentations. They also travel the country speaking in schools about bullying and harassment.

Although the circumstances of this case are not directly relevant to the industry we occupy, the behaviours are.

While we are unlikely to experience or witness such extremes in our workplaces, it illustrates how devastating bullying can be for a victim, causing immense psychological and emotional trauma, with the potential to destroy lives. In Brodie’s case, quite literally.

BRODIE’S ORDEAL

Meghan Chester, a co-worker at Cafe Vamp, described Brodie as a ”buoyant, chirpy, compassionate, patient, giving girl. She was like a little ray of sunshine.”

Brodie’s plans were to raise money for a trip overseas with a brother and his girlfriend and return to study social work at TAFE.

But by September 20, 2006, she felt an ”unbearable level of humiliation” over her relationship with Nicholas Smallwood. Later that night, she cried ”hysterically” to a friend, Ashlea Cooper, after Brodie had earlier been intimate with Smallwood.

Ashlea related how Brodie had ”begged” Smallwood to stay with her ”but that he just got up and left”, telling her that he’d only had sex with her on a dare from the other three tormentors to see if she’d “really be that dumb”.

”How embarrassing,” Ashlea said Brodie told her. ”I want to die. Ash, it is over. I have had enough. It’s over.”

Soon after, Brodie jumped from the top level of a multi-storied car park in Hawthorn and died three days later.

At 11.03pm, in a message to Smallwood he found the next day, Brodie said minutes before jumping: ”I’m sorry this is what I need to do. Sorry.”

Brodie did not disclose the bullying to her parents but they noted her personality had significantly changed. She moved into her own flat in early 2006 but still regularly saw her family, who would call in at the cafe.

However, by September she asked her parents not to go there anymore but to see her at home.”The reason for this we did not know,” says Damien Panlock. “We would try to find out but Brodie would just change the subject.”

According to another workmate, Nicola Wood, in this period Brodie was ”being dealt with in an extremely aggressive and intimidating manner” by the four men. On her evidence, Smallwood and Rhys MacAlpine were the ”main protagonists and were relentless in their efforts to demean her”.

Nicola believed Brodie put up with his behaviour and others’ because she was looking for Smallwood’s approval and acceptance ”and because she cared a lot about Nick”.

She told the inquest into Brodie’s death the behaviour took various forms and included ”putting fish oil in her bag, covering her with chocolate sauce, telling her that she was worthless and didn’t deserve to be there …

”They would just grab her and hold her down and put oil over her so she couldn’t get away … on three or four occasions.”

She said that Brodie, a ”loyal employee”, initially responded ”in a manner which was intended to give the impression that it didn’t bother her”, but Nicola noticed that Brodie had been self-harming and wore a bandage over her left wrist covering ”small” cuts.

According to Nicola, this was about a month before Brodie took rat poison and alcohol in the basement of Smallwood’s apartment block. This was after after Brodie wanted to ”stay over” and had become upset ”when he had kicked her out”.

On her return to work, Nicola alleged, there was a lull before Smallwood said things like ”if you are going to do it, do it properly”, while Da Cruz seemed to find ”death-humour” remarks ”almost amusing”. She added that Da Cruz ”evidently understood the inappropriate nature of what was going on”.

She testified that Da Cruz ”would sometimes, if it was in front of the house … say ‘tone it down’ because there were customers there” and some complained about the treatment they witnessed”.

Nicola added: ”All Brodie ever wanted was to have a boyfriend and be in love. Although she said she was fine with not being Nick’s girlfriend, she hoped deep down that it would happen in time. She was head over heels in love with him.”

Fellow co-worker Meghan Chester said in a statement that Brodie was young, naive and ”working in an environment that encouraged and supported bullying behaviour.

”She had no confidence in her beauty and worth,” Meghan wrote, and no matter what she did, right or wrong, she could never do ”anything right” by Da Cruz, Smallwood, MacAlpine and Toomey.

”I have worked in the hospitality industry for 10 years, but I have never seen anything like what those four males did to Brodie,” she said.

Meghan said she spoke to Smallwood and MacAlpine about their behaviour towards Brodie, but Brodie asked her not to ”stir the pot with Nick” and did not want her family to know about her workplace situation.

BULLYING BY EXCLUSION

Verbal and physical abuse are not the only ways employees can be bullied.

The act of excluding them can be just as damaging to the psyche and their working conditions.

Workforce Guardian’s David Bates said he was involved in a case where a company divided its staff into “hit teams” of six people each.

In one such group five people took an immense dislike (reasons not explained) to the sixth member and deliberately excluded him from team banter and social get togethers, but more damagingly from emails containing vital information about projects, including scheduled meetings.

For instance, they would “suddenly disappear” and when the employee would go looking for his co-workers, he would find them in a middle of a planning session. They would all point at their watches and accuse him of being “late again”.

This went on for seven months until the excluded employee felt so humiliated, anxious and depressed he sought legal advice.

The investigation discovered that the five team members all thought it was “a bit of fun” and that they “meant no harm”, and had no concept of the damage they were inflicting on their co-worker.

The company was found liable for not acting on the situation when it was clearly apparent there was a problem.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?

As an employer (whether you are the owner or manager of a business), you should be aware of what constitutes bullying and harassment that governs your behaviour towards employees, and employees towards each other.

Further, you should make this information freely available to your employees, especially when they first start in the job.

As an employee, you should be aware not only of your own rights, but those of others. Sometimes we can act in ways that we do not consider offensive or inappropriate but another person does. Without intending to bully or harass them, you may actually be doing so and can be penalised for it – even lose your job.

“Bullying and harassment must be nipped in the bud – dealt with the moment a problem is identified,” says David Bates.

“Resolving these situations can be awkward and difficult – even ugly – but it’s far better to do so when there is room to move. If you ignore it and hope it will resolve itself and go away, you may ultimately find yourself attending proceedings in the Federal Court, being financially penalised and suffering loss of reputation as a business and business owner/manager.

“You should also encourage employees to alert you to instances of bullying or harassment they witness. Sometimes the victim is too afraid or embarrassed to report the issue themselves.”