Two experienced aged carers are acting against IRT Group’s Sarah Claydon facility at Milton, claiming victimisation, false allegations of misconduct and, in one case, unlawful dismissal.
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Two Members of Parliament have weighed in to support Eddie Lee and Shane Lyttle.
Sacked last November, Mr Lyttle is pursuing IRT (Illawarra Retirement Trust) in the Fair Work Commission for unlawful dismissal.
Mr Lee has gone to both the Fair Work Commission and the Aged Care Commission over work practices that first alarmed him in early 2014.
Both had been working in Sarah Claydon’s In Home Care (IHC) section.
Listing a string of alleged failures by IRT, Mr Lee said the company also negligently exposed him and Mr Lyttle without warning to highly contagious golden staphylococcus (or staph), attempted to underplay treatment by his doctor and made a misleading addition to his accident report after he signed off.
Mr Lee said he and Mr Lyttle put themselves on the line in their duty of care to protect elderly IHC clients.
“In one case an unauthorised, unofficial video called Good Death, published by an independent producer on Vimeo, Facebook and by ABC Open, featured an elderly woman without her consent,” Mr Lee said.
He believes their support for the resident’s complaint against her appearance in the video led to scapegoating and in-house attempts to discredit them.
Federal MP for Gilmore Ann Sudmalis has taken up the video issue with Assistant Health Minister Ken Wyatt and awaits his response.
“In one case an unauthorised, unofficial video called Good Death, published by an independent producer on Vimeo, Facebook and by ABC Open, featured an elderly woman without her consent.”
- Eddie Lee
Mr Lee is now on stress leave but fears victimisation and summary dismissal on return, after an 18-months’ long confrontation with the company.
In a direct email to IRT chief executive Nieves Murray on November 6, State Member for South Coast Shelley Hancock asked to meet her, requesting “no action be taken against Mr Lee or Mr Lyttle until we have discussed the situation”.
In the email, Mrs Hancock said she had known Mr Lee “for more than twenty years as a highly respected and revered community member”.
“I make no judgments at this stage about their treatment within IRT but am concerned that an event regarding a complaint from an elderly resident… has now escalated to threats of dismissal of both men,” Mrs Hancock wrote.
“I have always supported strongly the role of IRT in our community but request a meeting with you and perhaps later with both the... men in order to resolve this conflict before both State and Federal Ministers become involved and possibly the media.”
“Eddie Lee... [is] a highly respected and revered community member.”
- Shelley Hancock, MP
Ms Murray responded that evening “I am certainly aware of them and their concerns” but in her email only referred Mrs Hancock to IRT’s Human Resources Manager.
Mr Lyttle was summarily sacked four days later for serious misconduct in a letter on November 10.
IRT wrote he failed to follow lawful and reasonable directions to attend two meetings in September and failed to email his intentions about attending one, while it was investigating two allegations.
IRT acknowledged Mr Lyttle had medical certificates not to attend two further meetings in October to show why he should not be summarily terminated, but said he had not written a response by November 9 or provided a reasonable excuse for not complying.
Mr Lyttle did respond on November 9, emailing IRT that his lawyer would be in touch with them by close of business Friday November 13.
An IRT spokesman has now told Fairfax Media “We are unable to comment publicly on confidential matters pertaining to individual employees”.
“We have followed due process in this matter, with respect to employment law, and IRT’s policies and processes.
“The concerns that Mr Lee has raised with us have been investigated and appropriate action taken.
“Ms Murray attempted to contact Ms Hancock by telephone on more than one occasion but received no response to her voicemail messages.”
Mr Lyttle is a grade three aged care worker, had been at Sarah Claydon IHC for three years before dismissal, and was a member of IRT’s enterprise agreement working group.
Mr Lee is a grade four aged care worker and team leader and has worked in IHC for almost eight years.
He asserts his the company did not adequately inform him of the risk of exposure to golden staph.
“It is a serious disease with mortality rates of the very young and very old [but] I was not the first carer exposed without warning on this day,” he said.
“Unfortunately an elderly client accidentally salivated on my left arm which had small open wounds.
“I have requested to sight IRT documents that show when they knew of the presence of [golden staph] and to this day [had] no response.
"I was not the first carer exposed without warning [to golden staph] on this day."
- Eddie Lee
Fairfax Media has seen a copy of IRT’s accident report on the occurrence and other documents outlining what Mr Lee regards unresolved issues.
He also cited inaccurate and inconsistent team meeting minutes, and a grievance listed in a final warning to him from management “that I don’t smile or acknowledge my manager when I’m in the office”.
He said since challenging work practices, he had to fight to recover more than $4000 in entitlements, which have now been paid.
He said other entitlements are still owing, one still in dispute with the outcome pending since November 2014 and that Mr Lyttle has received $8000 in unpaid entitlements.