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A "little bit" of swearing towards a director was "nothing serious", but when the behaviour escalated to verbal and physical abuse it became unreasonable, a tribunal has found in a psych injury appeal.

In mid-2019, the Lifestyle Supports director was diagnosed with severe stress and anxiety, with possible post-traumatic stress disorder, as a result of workplace bullying.

His subsequent workers' compensation claim was rejected at first instance and again on review, under the reasonable management action exemption, and he appealed to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.

The Commission heard that between October 2016 and February 2019 (at which point the director left work and didn't return), a number of interactions with the employer's owner had a causal connection with the director's psychological injury...