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It was difficult to understand why a "brash, aggressive" employee wasn't sacked during her probation period, the Fair Work Commission has said in rejecting her stop-bullying application.

The employee, who started working for Chemist Warehouse Indooroopilly in January last year, told Commissioner Jennifer Hunt that she'd been "fighting for [her] rights" not to be treated like a "second class citizen" from her second week. She described a toxic work environment where she was persecuted because of her age, and where colleagues and managers alike repeatedly failed to comply with the employer's own policies.

Various managers and employees were unapproachable, had mood swings, intimidated her, made her feel uneasy, and made excuses for inappropriate behaviour, she claimed, citing examples including:

• a manager who liked to "play colleagues against each other";
• staff standing around chatting on weekends while she did all the work; and
• managers' unsurprised, unconcerned response when she raised issues with them...