Photo: ADAM WRIGHT

THE region’s health service will pay up to $304,000 in lost wages to a nurse who ended her decades-long career because she was bullied by her boss, a commission has ruled.

Registered nurse Yvonne Tebbutt quit Shoalhaven Hospital with anxiety and depressive symptoms in March 2009, claiming she was subjected to two years of harassment and bullying at the hand of the superior.

A determination by the Workers Compensation Commission – made late last year and now final following a window of appeal – accepted she was persistently watched over and picked on for minor matters, berated in front of colleagues, discriminated against and treated differently to colleagues.

In a statement submitted to Arbitrator Garth Brown, Mrs Tebbutt said she was also left out of the loop and ignored by the superior, and that over time the treatment made her “miserable”.

“I was really enjoying my job and would have happily stayed there until I retired,” said Mrs Tebbutt, who had worked as a nurse for 30 years, 27 of them at Shoalhaven.

“I have a good life outside work. Over the past two years however, every day I feel like [the manager] would try and find some imperfection with my work and it makes me feel miserable.”

She did not return to work after March 12, when she “cried all night” after opening a letter announcing a fact-finding investigation into her conduct was to begin. This followed an earlier fact-finding investigation that upheld only one of three complaints Mrs Tebbutt’s solicitor, Maurice Blackburn senior associate Carmine Santone, deemed “minor”.

The commission heard Mrs Tebbutt visited her doctor and was prescribed antidepressants and the anxiety medication Temazepam.

She reported symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, insomnia, palpations, sweaty palms, anxiety and low energy and appetite, and saw several psychiatrists, including one who she told “she had two years of going to work, feeling sick every day, and being blamed for everything. She told me she cannot go anywhere near the hospital because it makes her feel sick.”

Neither Mrs Tebbutt’s or the health service disputed Mrs Tebbutt suffered a work-related psychological injury. At issue was whether the injury was entirely the result of disciplinary action, and whether the action was “reasonable”.

One of Mrs Tebbut’s doctors submitted an April 6 medical report saying her response was “unreasonable compared to the action taken by the employer”.

However Mr Brown found factors besides reasonable disciplinary action contributed to the development of Mrs Tebbutt’s psychological injury.

The health service was ordered to pay medical costs, backpay and a pension of about $390 a week for the remaining 15 years Mrs Tebbutt would have theoretically worked before retiring.

Mrs Tebbutt said she was happy to be vindicated by the ruling, but said the experience had left her “disillusioned”.

“I guess I’m happy that financially I’m not going to be totally destitute, but it’s still not the same as if I was working.

“I would really have just liked an apology.”

A spokeswoman for the health service said, “We are reviewing the judgement and will comply with the arbitrator’s directions.”