ABC Article on CSIRO Bullying Investigation

Posted on February 6, 2013. Filed under: Uncategorized |

The following article was published on the ABC News website a short time ago:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-06/inquiry-into-csiro-bullying/4503852?&section=news

Inquiry into CSIRO ‘bullying’

Posted 2 hours 31 minutes ago

Australia’s peak scientific organisation, the CSIRO, has announced an inquiry into workplace bullying.

The research organisation released a statement on Tuesday saying an independent review would be launched into allegations of harassment including those made by a group of scientists who call themselves the ‘victims of CSIRO’.

Maarten Stapper is an agronomist who left the CSIRO in 2007, and says he was bullied for publicly criticising genetically modified crops.

He says it is about time the organisation took action on this issue.

“I hope for a real recognition that this has happened. That it’s not just angry people who are upset because they were not accepted scientifically,” he said.

“But it’s the actual people management, bullying, that the top’s always right and the top puts all the pressure on the lower staff.”