Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Today is National Anti-Bullying Day and Lyndoch Living has marked the occasion with a petition to shore up support for its CEO…who has been accused of bullying, intimidation and manipulation.

Having read last night’s Terrier piece which revealed the explosive bullying claims against the CEO, Lyndoch staff arrived at work this morning to find a petition being circulated from the CEO’s inner circle.

The petition didn’t encourage staff to demand action on the claims, but, instead, pledge allegiance to the CEO and ask the Lyndoch board to publicly acknowledge the staff’s fear love and isolation support.

Well of course! Pass the pen!

The poor staff – many of whom have already spilled their guts in the anonymous staff survey – didn’t know what to do.

Should they sign it – and declare a false allegiance – or shouldn’t they, and face being the next pinball to be metaphorically bounced off the walls until their head hurts?

If this is not bullying, then I have lost my judgment. I doubt this is even legal, but it is most definitely desperate.

Very desperate. 

Speaking of legal, if anyone within Lyndoch was gathering material for a compensation claim against bullying and harassment, I suspect they would have photocopied this petition and added it straight to their file.

Because the Lyndoch staff have already spoken up against bullying as best they can.

More than 140 staff filled out an anonymous staff survey that was ordered via Lyndoch’s very expensive lawyers, K&L Gates, and compiled by a Melbourne consultancy called ‘Working Together’. (Ka-ching! $$ Ka-ching!)

The damning survey results were sent to the Lyndoch CEO in January and given to the Lyndoch board in February: they have read them, and done nothing.

As I wrote last night, 15 people in that survey said that:

“the CEO’s culture of intimidation, manipulation and bullying greatly impacted their safety, health and wellbeing. They said they witnessed her bullying others and making decisions in regard to her own self-interests and not the organisation as a whole.”

 

That is mind-blowing, but there is more.

Here is another snippet:

“Two thirds of (the 147) respondents said that in their opinion, Lyndoch’s values are not upheld within the organisation.

…there were issues in regard to the CEO specifically not upholding Lyndoch’s values, with a couple of respondents stating they have been directed by the CEO to ignore behaviour that is inconsistent to the values and for employees to just ‘deal with it’.”

 

So the CEO allegedly doesn’t uphold the values of Lyndoch and says the staff should ‘deal with it’.

Okaaay….

And here is another:

“Just under a quarter of respondents said that Corporate staff were not welcoming, that some Corporate staff would not help unless it benefited them and there was an ‘us and them’ mentality that impacted on all of Lyndoch’s values…This was seen to be behaviours from the CEO that filtered down.”

 

So the corporate staff have to “kiss up and kick down”. (thankyou, JD, for that line)

And one more:

“Comments were made in regard to people who were beneficial to the organisation being ‘pushed out’ due to the mismanagement of bullying behaviour they had either witnessed or endured. A few employees stated that there was a culture where individuals who reported bullying were ostracised and created a target on their back with upper management”.

All cheery stuff. Pass me the petition!

You get the picture and maybe one day the inner sanctum of Lyndoch Living might release the whole document so you can get the whole picture, but I doubt it.

They have more important things to do, like draw up petitions and hire a consultant to soak-rinse-wash-bleach-and-spin all of the bad news into good news, leaving the Lyndoch power base sparkly clean and stain free.

(A favoured consultant from out of town was seen leaving the Lyndoch building again today. I wonder why they were there?)

When there is a steady flow of the same allegations, things inevitably start to stick and it all, eventually, comes unstuck.

Now that powerful people are taking note, including MPs Roma Britnell and Dan Tehan, many people feel that day is fast approaching and, for the sake of our wonderful Lyndoch, I hope they’re right.

Happy National Anti-Bullying Day.

#nomorebullying #standup #speakout #staystrong

Do you follow The Terrier? If so, join those who have thrown something in the tip jar to help with the digging. 

The Tip Jar

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

South West Coast MP Roma Britnell is taking action in response to a leaked copy of an explosive Lyndoch Living staff survey.

Could this be the moment when someone with power grabs the wheel and steers HMAS Lyndoch away from the iceberg?

Many of the long-suffering staff – past and present – will hope so.

Before I give you a snippet of the damning survey responses (brace yourself), I asked Ms Britnell if she had received a copy and what she intended to do about it.

She could have said, “sorry, Terrier-blogger-journo-social-media-brat, no comment”.

But, in a statement to The Terrier today, Ms Britnell said she was concerned, and that the survey mirrored issues raised by a number of people she had spoken to over recent months.

Ms Britnell said she will now meet with the Lyndoch board and CEO to ask what is being done. This is significant, because MPs don’t wade into troubled waters easily.

I can also confirm that the federal Member for Wannon, Dan Tehan, has asked the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to investigate concerns raised earlier by constituents.

This, as we know, comes on top of growing unease among staff at the Warrnambool Medical Clinic, who – I suspect – are starting to understand why two GPs quit last April when that clinic was sold to Lyndoch Living for a total of $1.6m.

The WMC Practice Manager has also resigned and leaves in two weeks. (“Ahoy me hearties, iceberg ahead!”)

First, here is what Ms Britnell had to say in full:

“I received a copy of the report via email on Tuesday morning and had some concerns about its contents.

I am now seeking a meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of Lyndoch Living and Members of the Board to discuss these matters.

I also note I have been approached by several different people over the past few months who have shared with me concerns which relate to the matters contained in the report.

Lyndoch is a vital institution in our community and it’s really important it retains its long held reputation as a high quality home for the elderly and a great place to work.

That’s why it’s important concerns raised by staff or residents are appropriately addressed – that is information I will be seeking from the CEO and Board. “

 

One wonders how much longer the Lyndoch board can continue to deny the obvious, which leapt off the page in the leaked confidential staff survey.

Lyndoch received the survey results in January, they went to the board in February, but still it has done nothing to address the damning assessment of the CEO’s leadership that was contained within.

Here is a snippet which I believe people need to see in the public interest, not just the watered down version as reported in the Warrnambool Standard:

“A small sample of around 10-15 respondents stated that the CEO’s culture of intimidation, manipulation and bullying greatly impacted their safety, health and wellbeing. They said they witnessed her bullying others and making decisions in regard to her own self-interests and not the organisation as a whole.”

Read that again. Up to 15 people is not a “small sample”. That is shocking, especially when you consider the Lyndoch corporate area has about 40 staff in total.

For even one person to claim to be enduring the “CEO’s culture of intimidation, manipulation and bullying” is one too many.

To have 10 to 15 warm-blooded, real people feeling that their “safety, health and well-being” is suffering, is disgraceful.

And what has been done in response?

Instead of leaping into action, Lyndoch hired a consultant – yes, another big fat fee on the public dime – to offer the board a counter assessment of the results:

“Look, over there! Over there! Nothing to see here!”

In LyndochLand™ , it’s the fault of the senior staff, the older staff, the kitchen staff, the person who takes out the bins on a Friday, the woman walking past the Lyndoch Milk Bar, the person who posted a nasty comment on Facebook, a pesky little journalist….anybody, anybody, but the person at the very top of the tree.

Is that a cover up, pure spin or clever public relations?

I don’t know, but what I do know is that the board – at the end of the day – will wear any consequences of not acting decisively.

The board are the people who are at risk of serious reputational damage. In light of these survey results, they can no longer say that they didn’t know.

And it is poor Lyndoch, owned and loved by the community for 60 years, that could face both reputational and significant financial damage.

Compensation payouts of hundreds of thousands of dollars are being awarded to individuals who have suffered workplace bullying and harassment. This is not a game.

On top of that, consider this: if the iconic Warrnambool Medical Clinic was to fall apart because of similar issues filtering into its workplace, then there is no more “goodwill” and Lyndoch will have paid close to $2 million* for fresh air.

All this before even a sod is turned on the new $12 million medical centre to be built at Lyndoch to house the WMC and up to 20 GPs.

The pushback against those who dare to speak up and out is enormous – it’s all just a “social media” beat up – and meanwhile the HMAS Lyndoch lurches ever closer toward the iceberg.

At least now Ms Britnell and Mr Tehan are helping to lower the lifeboats.

There is a Lyndoch board meeting next Tuesday: we can only hope that the board leaps in and starts paddling.

*The $2 million includes $1.6m for the WMC and $300,000 for the Health Spot, plus purchase fees and charges.

Do you follow The Terrier? If so, join those who have thrown something in the tip jar to help with the digging. 

The Tip Jar

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

An enthusiastic volunteer for Wannon Liberal Party candidate Dan Tehan caused a few ructions last week after she assisted elderly people to fill out their voting cards at a mobile polling booth in a local aged care home.

The volunteer entered the polling area several times to help the voters, showing them how to complete their ballot papers to, no doubt, put Dan at the top of the tree.

How-to-vote Liberal cards had also been distributed to the residents’ rooms, just to make their decision making that little bit easier.

Apparently once the Australian Electoral Commission became aware of what was happening, voting was temporarily suspended at the mobile booth and Mr Tehan’s office was contacted, with the volunteer told to cease and desist, or words to that effect. (I contacted Mr Tehan’s office today, but am yet to hear back.)

Unbelievably, all of the above has since been found to be perfectly legal under our election laws, despite the voters in question being among the most open to manipulation.

In fact another Liberal Party volunteer was also reported to the AEC last week after he helped at least a dozen residents fill out their Senate voting papers at a mobile polling booth in a Melbourne nursing home.

Normally, no party campaign workers are allowed within six metres of a polling booth.

The AEC investigated the Melbourne case and found that this rule did not apply to mobile polling booths, so the volunteer had done nothing illegal.

A spokeswoman for the AEC also told me today that if any voter wanted help with filling out their voting paper, they could ask for it from either an AEC worker or a party campaign worker, it was their choice.

Woah!

I can see a giant hole in the rules here with the words “POTENTIAL RORT” flashing in psychedelic red, blue and green.

There is nothing like having a party candidate schmoozing up to the elderly with some helpful how-to-vote tips when, potentially, that elderly person is not entirely sure who is running for which party, or what party they wish to vote for. (I speak from experience here, as my old Mum swung from Julia Gillard to Pauline Hanson, and back again, because she liked red hair.)

Surely such “help” should only be provided by an AEC worker?

This potential rort might not matter as much in a seat like Wannon, where Mr Tehan sits on a 9% margin and is unlikely to ever lose, ever, ever, ever, but in a tight marginal seat, a few “let me help you dear” votes could make all the difference.

The same applies to the Senate, where a few votes can determine the balance of power.

Watch this space, I reckon, for a change in the rules before too long, now that campaign workers are showing up right inside nursing home polling booths and only too eager to “help”.

(By the way, it is compulsory for everyone over the age of 18 to vote in federal and state elections in Australia, unless you have specifically applied for an exemption because of medical issues, dementia, mental health etc.)

If you would like to see The Terrier keep digging up, sniffing out and chewing on local issues, please consider throwing something in the tip jar.

Terrier Tip Jar

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

With the death of yet another racehorse from the Warrnambool May Racing Carnival, how on earth is jumps racing still considered okay?

How does Warrnambool, as a city, continue to look away as if racehorses being killed is an unavoidable by-product of pumping money into our local economy?

It was revealed today that Blues Breaker, trained by local Symon Wilde, was killed after a truly hideous, full-roll somersault last Wednesday, and it serves as an ugly reminder that we accept horses can and will die in the name of a “sport” that hides its cruelty under hired suits, fascinators, champagne and finger food.

At the same time, our Mayor Tony Herbert bangs on about Warrnambool being “sophisticated” and “cosmopolitan” – well, jumps racing ain’t either of those, Mr Herbert, it is barbaric.

It is unquestionably brutal and the money generated for Warrnambool by this “sport” is once again smeared with blood.

For the record, Blues Breaker is the fourth horse to die at the Warrnambool May Racing Carnival since 2016 and there have been more than 50 horses die from jumps racing in Victoria in the past 10 years.

Unfortunately we have become deaf to the statistics that, in any other sport, would cause an outcry, such as the results of a 15-year-long study by the University of Melbourne which shows horses are 18 more times likely to die in jumps racing than flat racing and 121 more times likely to suffer a head, back or neck injury.

Read those numbers again and imagine, for a moment, if they applied to AFL or cycling or soccer.

While Blues Breaker has been euthanised, there are numerous other racehorses still recovering from their outing in Warrnambool last week.

You won’t hear or read about them, but you can read through the racing stewards’ reports compiled from across the three days of the May Racing Carnival to see the string of horses that stumbled, failed to finish, “knuckled upon landing”, jumped awkwardly, pulled up sore, ran out of breath, were whipped too many times, or bled from the nose after racing.

Despite all this, our city leaders wander around the racecourse, all hats and smiles, as if wearing their own personal set of blinkers: nothing to see here folks! Let’s all have fun!

It is dishonest and it is dirty, but because it brings in the big dollars, we are encouraged to stay mute and suck it up.

Indeed if you do speak up, you are accused of being a killjoy, or a rabid animal activist who lives in a sweaty little teepee, or ill-informed because, hey, don’t you know racehorses love to jump numerous hurdles for long distances while having their arses beaten with a whip? What’s wrong with you, killjoy?

If there is one rock solid argument as to why jumps racing must be maintained in Victoria, I am yet to hear it.

In the meantime, what we do hear is about the millions of taxpayer dollars being poured into the Warrnambool Racing Club and the Warrnambool Racecourse.

Racehorse owner and Federal Member for Wannon Dan Tehan, who shares a racehorse with the chairman of the Warrnambool Racing Club, Nick Rule, announced $1.25 million of public money would be put toward revamping the grandstand.

The State Government will throw in another cool $300,000 and the remaining $3.4 million for the project will come from the Warrnambool Racing Club which, according to Mr Herbert, has been struggling, cash-strapped, and virtually down-on-its-knees.

Former Premier Denis Napthine, another racehorse owner and now a racing commentator on 3YB, would like to see the State Government offer more prize money because, hey, that has to be a priority for us hardworking taxpayers, doesn’t it?

And we know that millions have already been spent improving training facilities at the racecourse with sand tracks and swimming pools and better drainage, yet the industry still wants to run around our wild beaches.

Enough.

Warrnambool is moving toward being a different city to what it was 20 or 30 years ago. We have a Greens’ member on council and a rainbow flag outside the council chambers – both unthinkable just a decade ago.

Our demographic is changing and we are all moving on from the days of treating the natural and animal world as if it is ours to exploit. Heavens, we even had the Swedes here recently telling us how to capture hydrogen fuel to power our cars.

This is the Warrnambool I am a proud to be a part of and so many people want to be a part of. Jumps racing – surely – no longer fits that future.

Would you like to support The Terrier? Please consider throwing something in the tip jar.

Terrier Tip Jar