Hearing told abuse caused depression

A Temuka woman has claimed verbal abuse she suffered at a Timaru meatworks left her with depression and unable to sleep.

Alliance Smithfield meatworks employee Carol Anne Shanks appeared at an Employment Relations Authority (ERA) hearing in Timaru yesterday into her personal grievance against her employer.

Shanks alleged that said on January 13, after she pulled an emergency cord which stopped the machinery in the area where she was working, she was called a ‘‘f...ing stupid b...h’’ by her supervisor, Jordan Wihone.

Because of the abuse, Shanks said she was ‘‘pretty down ... I was just pretty depressed’’.

‘‘Because of what happened, I went to the doctor ... I was checking my work all the time, I thought I was going to make a mistake, I couldn’t think properly.

‘‘I couldn’t sleep, then I went on to sleeping pills.’’

Authority member David Appleton

"I couldn't sleep, then I went on to sleeping pills."

Carol Anne Shanks

asked Shanks why she had not referred to the specific words used against her in her written complaint, submitted three days after the incident.

Shanks replied she hadn’t been able to hear precisely what Wihone said to her, and found out after she had submitted her statement.

‘‘I sort of knew it was something b...h,’’ Shanks said.

Shanks told the hearing that when she returned to work the following Monday she passed a written complaint to the plant’s management.

When she saw Wihone was still working in her area of the plant, Shanks said she was ‘‘shocked’’.

‘‘I didn’t think he would be in the room after what happened,’’ Shanks said.

Shanks confirmed she had not told the plant’s management or the union about her concerns.

Vincent asked if at the time of the incident Shanks had sworn at another supervisor. ‘‘I was standing there looking at other workers saying, ‘what the f..k are they doing?’,’’ Shanks replied.

Vincent said Shanks had neglected to include what Wihone allegedly said to her in her written statement ‘‘because it didn’t happen’’.

Vincent said that a week after the alleged incident, a manager had told her Wihone had been given a written warning and would meet with a senior manager every two weeks for intensive supervision.

Wihone was also told his behaviour was ‘‘unacceptable’’ and ‘‘wouldn’t be tolerated’’, while all night shift supervisors met with senior managers to tell them supervision of employees had to be communicated respectfully, Vincent said.

‘‘Do you accept these steps were taken, do you accept the company took steps to protect you?’’ Vincent asked

‘‘It was to protect the supervisors,’’ Shanks replied.

The hearing continues.