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A WODONGA hospital report after a kitchen staffer had her pants pulled down found there was an “unhealthy factionalism” in the catering department.
The Wodonga Regional Health Service hired a consultant to assess the department after the pants incident involving employee Linda Dudderidge that also sparked a WorkSafe investigation.
The consultant’s report found a formal code of conduct was needed and any breaches of it should attract disciplinary action.
Kitchen supervisor in 2004 Scott Murray said he had received complaints about friction in the department with heated discussions leaving staff seriously upset.
He was aware of an incident in June 2004 when a staff member went home early with stress and told management to “stick the kiosk up our arse”.
Mr Murray accepted there was considerable disharmony about kitchen staff challenging the cooks’ seniority.
“Like any group of people, they had their good days or bad days,” Mr Murray said.
“It’s a stressful place, a kitchen in the hospital.”
Mr Murray, who has since retired, played down the gravity of prank behaviour, saying there was “some fun” between employees.
“When it slowed down, there may have been a bit of joviality or banter but, on the whole, it was good,” Mr Murray said.
He said he was not aware of mooning by staff or of a bicycle with a dildo on it being brought into the kitchen and only had a “vague recollection” of a penis made of dough being placed on an urn.
Kitchen worker Leanne Dewar, who has worked at the hospital for 28 years, said pranks were commonplace in 2004 but they had since disappeared with more discipline in the catering department.
“They don’t occur, they don’t happen,” Ms Dewar said.
She said the pranks had tended to occur at the end of shifts — after the staff had completed their duties.
Ms Dewar said sinks had been needlessly filled with water, staff had deliberately smeared themselves with food colouring, cars had been festooned with toilet paper and flour bombs and eggs thrown were examples of the staff pranks.