Litigation by former CSIRO employees on the Increase as Victims investigate legal options

Posted on May 27, 2013. Filed under: Uncategorized |

Over the past 12 months, litigation against the CSIRO by former employees has been steadily on the increase as more victims of the CSIRO’s toxic workplace culture look to legal redress as a means of addressing their unresolved grievances.

This is a strong indication of both the failure of the CSIRO’s formal grievance procedures and its general apathy towards genuinely engaging in alternative dispute resolution processes.

The Victims of CSIRO are currently investigating opportunities to provide attainable legal representation on behalf of victims of workplace bullying and other matters of malfeasance as an alternative to the CSIRO sponsored investigation being undertaken by law firm HWL Ebsworth.

We do not believe that a CSIRO funded investigation will provide a positive outcome for those engaging in the investigation process. It offers no form of redress for complainants and may even jeopardise the success of future legal claims. Previous investigations of this nature undertaken by other government agencies have failed to result in satisfactory outcomes for participants.

Additionally, there is no protection against adverse legal action which may be commenced by either the CSIRO or its employees individually in relation to the information submitted by individuals to the investigation team.

The recent reissuing of a revised Terms of Reference document days before the closing date for submission strongly indicates that this investigative process has been ill-considered and rushed through.

Despite concerns voiced from a number of stakeholders over the lack of initial engagement in forming the Terms of Reference, the updated Terms of Reference have been redrafted, again without stakeholder participation.

We note also that both the CSIRO and HWL Ebsworth have failed to adequately address the real or perceived conflicts of interests which have plagued this investigation from day one.

We urge those considering participation in the CSIRO investigation into Workplace Bullying and Other Misconduct to carefully weigh up the risks of participation before engaging in this process.

If you are interested in being kept informed of potential opportunities through the Victims of CSIRO group, please drop us an email at victimsofcsiro@gmail.com so that we may keep you apprised of any opportunities as they arise.