Virgin Australia and its boss Jayne Hrdlicka hit with bullying claim
Thread Starter
Virgin Australia and its boss Jayne Hrdlicka hit with bullying claim
Virgin Australia and its high-flying chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka have been accused of bullying a senior pilot at the airline group in a Fair Work court case.
Captain Michael Fitzgerald launched Federal Court action on Tuesday against the airline.
A Virgin Australia spokeswoman confirmed it was being sued by the company’s former general manager of flight operations after an extended period of personal leave. The company also confirmed that allegations had been made directly against Hrdlicka.
Captain Michael Fitzgerald launched Federal Court action on Tuesday against the airline.
A Virgin Australia spokeswoman confirmed it was being sued by the company’s former general manager of flight operations after an extended period of personal leave. The company also confirmed that allegations had been made directly against Hrdlicka.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/c...12-p5ad1p.html
That might be hard to prove, . Not all bullying involves direct threats to a person. The subtle form is "social bullying" - a campaign of deliberate exclusion from the activities of the management group. Invitations dry up, names get left off meeting attendance or document distribution lists, etc. It is very hard to prove such things because they involve sins of omission, not commission.
oh I don’t know Sunny, most corporate bullying docs usually include ‘omission” as a contributor. Not defending the fellow, glad to see him go. And what about this ‘pearler’ from The Australian;
The airline told The Australian Mr Aggs “was *responsible for making all decisions in relation to Mr Fitzgerald’s employment”
Look out Stu, a big yellow bus is about to come your way……….
The airline told The Australian Mr Aggs “was *responsible for making all decisions in relation to Mr Fitzgerald’s employment”
Look out Stu, a big yellow bus is about to come your way……….
I read the article and I was curious to see how bullying was defined and Googled my way to horror. Sure put the heebie jeebies up me. At the end of the day, anything that might melt a snowflake can be construed as bullying. Saying the wrong thing or not saying the right thing can be construed as bullying. Thing is, "wrong" and "right" in that context gets to be defined by the victim.
Indeed, will a V1 cut with a 20 knot crosswind component in the sim be defined as bullying? Will taking over a mishandled approach on the line be considered bullying? Will calling for the before landing checklist without appending the word "please" to the request be considered bullying? Its looking like this new age workplace is not for the faint of heart.
Indeed, will a V1 cut with a 20 knot crosswind component in the sim be defined as bullying? Will taking over a mishandled approach on the line be considered bullying? Will calling for the before landing checklist without appending the word "please" to the request be considered bullying? Its looking like this new age workplace is not for the faint of heart.
I wouldn’t have been hanging around too long post once PS had been given orders to depart. This behaviour is common during these executive transition periods, most of the previous executives left pronto. It was clear she was going to cause havoc amongst anyone from Virgin Mark 1 who remained.
Originally Posted by lucille
I read the article and I was curious to see how bullying was defined and Googled my way to horror. Sure put the heebie jeebies up me.At the end of the day, anything that might melt a snowflake can be construed as bullying. Saying the wrong thing or not saying the right thing can be construed as bullying.
Workplace bullying and the law
Workplace bullying is repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed at an employee or group of employees that creates a risk to health and safety.
Indeed, will a V1 cut with a 20 knot crosswind component in the sim be defined as bullying?
constructive comments which are objective and indicate observable deficiencies in performance or conduct and constructively delivered feedback or counselling intended to help employees to improve their work performance
(Ie feedback comments about on a sim) are not considered bullying.
Will taking over a mishandled approach on the line be considered bullying?
genuine and reasonable instructions
are not considered bullying.
Its looking like this new age workplace is not for the faint of heart.
It's relatively straight forward to terminate employment for non performance. So long as you follow procedure. Most important thing is accurate note keeping.
No need for bullying, those who do it usually can't help themselves, leaving themselves open to fair work claims.
No need for bullying, those who do it usually can't help themselves, leaving themselves open to fair work claims.
Originally Posted by tossbag
It's relatively straight forward to terminate employment for non performance. So long as you follow procedure. Most important thing is accurate note keeping.
No need for bullying, those who do it usually can't help themselves, leaving themselves open to fair work claims.
No need for bullying, those who do it usually can't help themselves, leaving themselves open to fair work claims.
Another article from News Corp just released. While typically during executive team changeovers, the ‘cleaning out’ phase or so on, expect a few disagreements along the way, but we are onto the fourth or fifth article now. I’m sorry but get her out and put someone else in the job. It’s a train wreck.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/busines...2b445191de?amp
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/busines...2b445191de?amp
Having seen Jayne in action these rumours do not surprise me, she speaks about how she appreciates all the staff in the media and then sets about destroying their terms and conditions behind the scenes.
Originally Posted by Icarus2001
PoppaJo the link is behind a paywall. 
https://australianaviation.com.au/20...ure-questions/
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Earth
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How is any of this surprising? She is known for leaving a path of destruction where ever she turns up.
I wouldn’t mind the “hard arse” attitude if it meant results. More often it doesn’t. Demoralised workforce and people leave in droves.
Maybe she should sit in on a few NTS courses 😂
I wouldn’t mind the “hard arse” attitude if it meant results. More often it doesn’t. Demoralised workforce and people leave in droves.
Maybe she should sit in on a few NTS courses 😂
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hollywood
Posts: 97
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thread Starter
Having personally been bullied by a senior female manager, I can attest that the activity is no laughing matter. Women managers do it very subtly through “social bullying” -something they learn, I think, as teenage girls.
‘’Virgins defence sounds plausible on the surface unless you have actually experienced social bullying. It includes a whole series of actions, each in itself apparently trivial, but in totality they produce a devastating result. I do not know if Virgin did any of the things I list below.
‘Examples of tactics:
- whispering campaigns about a persons personal life. (eg: rumors about alcohol use, domestic violence, sexual behaviour , etc)
- “accidental” (not) omission from invitation lists for work related social functions. ( wait till you see your boss take several of your subordinates to lunch without inviting you, etc)
- curtailment of your company representation role at industry seminars, meetings, etc.
- Gaslighting.
- deliberate sabotage of your operational role. (eg/; delays in accessing reports, budgets and other necessary documents)
- “accidental” omission from meeting invitations, distribution lists, etc., followed by blaming you for being “out of touch” with operations.
- unreasonable work related demands, such as impossible reporting deadlines.
…….Those are just a few “mean girl” tactics I and others, have experienced in another industry. They all sound trivial and plausibly deniable by the company if they are taken individually. However humans are very good at discerning patterns of behavior. Your subordinates will know you are marked for removal before you do.
‘’It’s not hard to end up with PTSD from this behaviour.
‘’Virgins defence sounds plausible on the surface unless you have actually experienced social bullying. It includes a whole series of actions, each in itself apparently trivial, but in totality they produce a devastating result. I do not know if Virgin did any of the things I list below.
‘Examples of tactics:
- whispering campaigns about a persons personal life. (eg: rumors about alcohol use, domestic violence, sexual behaviour , etc)
- “accidental” (not) omission from invitation lists for work related social functions. ( wait till you see your boss take several of your subordinates to lunch without inviting you, etc)
- curtailment of your company representation role at industry seminars, meetings, etc.
- Gaslighting.
- deliberate sabotage of your operational role. (eg/; delays in accessing reports, budgets and other necessary documents)
- “accidental” omission from meeting invitations, distribution lists, etc., followed by blaming you for being “out of touch” with operations.
- unreasonable work related demands, such as impossible reporting deadlines.
…….Those are just a few “mean girl” tactics I and others, have experienced in another industry. They all sound trivial and plausibly deniable by the company if they are taken individually. However humans are very good at discerning patterns of behavior. Your subordinates will know you are marked for removal before you do.
‘’It’s not hard to end up with PTSD from this behaviour.
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: New Zealand
Age: 70
Posts: 1,480
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
One doesn’t become the CEO of an entity by being ‘nice’. A high percentage of CEO’s get to that level because they are psychopaths or sociopaths (there are some good books out there that cover these types of people). Either of these personalities don’t make for a ‘nice’ person in the least, and selfish, vindictive, narcissistic and bullying traits usually become manifested and quite obvious as enough time passes by. In short, most CEO’s are complete assholes.
Now, if you have a CEO who is brought in to rebuild a business with the view to the business being sold off or floated in the share market, which in turn will see the CEO receive tens of millions of dollars as the reward for their hard work, well you are going to have a CEO who is likely to be a hard knuckled vicious asswipe who will stop at nothing to receive their large pot of gold awaiting them at the foot of the rainbow.
Now, if you have a CEO who is brought in to rebuild a business with the view to the business being sold off or floated in the share market, which in turn will see the CEO receive tens of millions of dollars as the reward for their hard work, well you are going to have a CEO who is likely to be a hard knuckled vicious asswipe who will stop at nothing to receive their large pot of gold awaiting them at the foot of the rainbow.
And it gradually filters down the hierarchical tree. As each level of management is subjected to the bullying from above, so do they apply the same pressures to the employees they oversee simply to ‘survive’. It takes a while but soon you have a quite toxic culture in the organisation; something that was quite evident some years ago at the other airline of significance.
It takes a very strong manager to resist the temptation from above. Thankfully there were a couple in QCC. Hopefully VA have a couple who’ll provide a more appropriate environment.
It takes a very strong manager to resist the temptation from above. Thankfully there were a couple in QCC. Hopefully VA have a couple who’ll provide a more appropriate environment.
