A de facto carer who instructed two intellectually disabled people to participate in sex acts while he filmed them has been jailed for at least two-and-a-half years. The 55-year-old-man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was found guilty of two counts of rape and two counts of indecent filming, and pleaded guilty to threatening another carer who found out about the abuse. South Australia’s District Court heard the man had been a de facto carer to a young intellectually disabled woman.
February 9, 2017
Civic Disability Services Ltd is to defend a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) lodged by an ex-staffer (Mallet).
February 6, 2017
A former nursing home boss who paid herself $20,000 from the bank account of a disabled patient is back working in aged care after a six-month suspension. VCAT documents reveal Ruth Fields, formerly known as Ruth Welling, manipulated an intellectually disabled wheelchair-bound woman to make herself the patient’s legal financial guardian. Mrs Fields, who was chief executive of AdventCare at the time of the incident, has returned to work at a Cheltenham nursing home in an office role.
February 3, 2017
Quad Partnership is being challenged by a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) lodged by Cohen.
February 2, 2017
Adam Felkin has been refused permission by the FWC full bench to reopen his unfair dismissal settlement with his ex-employer Pathfinders Ltd. “Mr Felkin has brought forward nothing that would suggest that the settlement agreement was the product of extreme pressure or that it was anything other than an agreement entered into freely. He has also not brought forward anything that would suggest that there is an arguable case of appealable error in the expression made by Drake SDP that his dismissal was not harsh, unjust or unreasonable, based on the evidence before Drake SDP in her capacity as a private arbitrator.” So there the matter now rests.
January 31, 2017
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – incapacity – inherent requirements – s.394 Fair Work Act 2009 – application for unfair dismissal remedy – applicant worked as Personal Care Assistant and acquired additional duties as an After Hours Coordinator – lodged worker’s compensation claim in relation to alleged psychological injuries – respondent denied liability – claimed employment was not a substantial contributing factor to injury – applicant dismissed on basis of incapacity to carry out the inherent requirements of both positions – required to attend fact finding meeting in relation to allegations of altering the Webster pack of a client without the authorisation to do so – absent from work due to workplace injury and the exacerbation of symptoms due to alleged bullying – claimed to be subjected to bullying over a significant period of time leading up to dismissal – Commission satisfied that even if modifications to the role and provision of facilities or service to aid her were made, would still not be able to carry out the inherent requirements of both roles – Lion Dairy and Drinks Milk Limited v Peter Norman considered – employers are required to have regard to expert opinion rather than making own assessments regarding medical questions – respondent relied on opinion of medical expert to dismiss on incapacity – expert considered that even once she had reached remission ‘it would be prudent’ that applicant not be exposed to these workplace stressors as this may cause a relapse – Commission found that there was a valid reason for dismissal – applicant unable to undertake the inherent requirements of job as a result of incapacity – dismissal was not harsh, unjust or unreasonable – application dismissed. Duarte v The Paraplegic & Quadriplegic Association of NSW
January 30, 2017
A Melbourne doctor who asked a vulnerable patient for sex while promising to help her get a disability pension has been allowed to keep practising despite a long history of serious complaints to regulators. The general practitioner is still treating patients without conditions on his registration, three and a half years after the latest allegations – and a damning string of text messages – were first brought to the attention of the Medical Board of Australia. A Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal panel recently found the female patient’s complaints against Glenroy-based Dr Hassan Alkazali were proven and constituted four counts of professional misconduct, with a determination on penalty due late next month. The panel accepted evidence that Dr Alkazali had asked the patient for sex over the phone and in dozens of text messages, and had tried to coach her on how to get a disability pension for schizophrenia, despite lacking evidence to reasonably believe she was schizophrenic. The text messages, reproduced in VCAT’s findings, show the doctor had responded to questions about the status of the patient’s pension application with: “But good dr needs good girl to play with.”
January 30, 2017
Sunnyfield Disability Services has been served with a s.773 (Application to deal with an unlawful termination dispute) by an ex-staffer (Kafoa).
