The autistic and epileptic 20-year-old had lived at a group home in Sydney’s west for a few months when she slipped below the water in the bathtub and drowned.
“I want to make sure no parents go through what I’m going through. This has changed me forever.”Ms Petrus, a single mother of six children, is demanding to know how her daughter could have been left alone to die. You can read the full article here: –
https://www.merimbulanewsweekly.com.au/story/6192162/mum-demands-answers-after-death-in-care/
Ms Petrus needed answers and despite the following excerpt from a media release, did not receive any support from AFFORD other than a 2 line letter offering deepest condolences. She engaged a private investigator for help and enlisted Inner Sydney Investigations and that’s how I became involved.
“The company that runs the group home, Afford, told AAP they will continue to support Ms Petrus following her daughter’s death. They have hired an external investigator to determine what happened.”
The views and opinions here I should make clear are expressly mine and not necessarily shared by anyone, or influenced by anyone. They are solely mine. Tony Johns
In this case I have decided to conduct an open investigation of the matter as best as I can. It would be pleasing to see all those genuine people, especially carers who have some time and knowledge spare to contribute here. I therefore welcome your help via contributions. The reason for this is solely for the benefit and protection of the many thousands of other clients who are currently in care and who unlike Merna must be safe at all times. If you prefer, you can contact me personally at [email protected]
Simply put, it is not the client’s responsibility to ensure they are safe, and for the most part, many clients do not have the ability to speak up or determine if they are truly safe or not. It is up to us to protect our own, so I would strongly urge everyone to urgently check the facilities where client’s with disabilities are housed and frequent.
On Wednesday 10 July 2019 I telephoned AFFORD and spoke with a Ms Elnajar about our consideration to moving my sister into an AFFORD group home. She suitably answered all the questions about facilities and services I asked except for the one about where it sits now re safety after reading the report in the media about the young woman drowning in one of AFFORDS group homes.
She said, “I don’t know how to reply to that. I’ll have to get Kirsten who is our specialist in that area to call you. I can’t answer that question.”
To date I have not received a call back despite making a further call on Monday, 15 July 2019 and leaving my phone number and a message on Kirsten’s voicemail.
When I opened this case I made an assessment so that I could prepare a way forward. There was no road map.
My first thoughts – I was deeply impressed by this mother’s drive after the devastation of what happened to her daughter when she expressed a strong desire to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
I quickly realised there had already been a mile of data compiled, with many statements taken by different groups. I did not need to instruct my factual investigators to do this. These are the investigators who specialise in interviewing people and taking signed statements along with photographs of accident scenes much like AFFORD’s insurance investigators would already have done.
I told Ms Petrus it would not be necessary for me to find out these answers because others would do the job for her. The police had investigated and would prepare a report. AFFORD’s insurance company would have rushed factual investigators onto the matter, recording and taking statements from everyone with any involvement, inspecting and taking copies of business records and likely taking photographs of the group home in question. Additionally I suspected other regulatory bodies would also be involved immediately.
This incident was peculiar in that the drowning of Merna did not happen at the beach, or on a fun day at the waterworks. It happened in the bath on the premises where someone was in the specific business of providing care so that these things don’t happen.
I suggested that Ms Petrus simply writes to AFFORD and asks them because they would by now have all the answers. She knew that the official cause of death was drowning, but of course did not know how this could possibly happen.
After all, AFFORD are in the business of providing care, and if they really cared now was the time to show it. It should have been a simple matter of writing them a letter to find out. (see below excerpt from SBS news report on the matter).
“The care given to every Afford client is of the highest quality and Afford promotes the highest standards of best practice within the disability sector.”
Ms Petrus was not up to writing the letter so I helped draft the letter and on 25 June a letter from Ms Petrus was sent to AFFORD. See copy below.
25 June 2019
Stephanie Forsyth
AFFORD
3-7 Marianne Pl
Minchinbury NSW 2770
Dear Stephanie,
Thank you for your letter of 30 May 2019 passing on your condolences and those of the Afford Board and senior executive for the death of Merna.
In all fairness could you please provide me with an explanation of what happened?
Warm regards
Tanya Petrus
****** Updated 19 August 11:40am ******
On 16 July 2019 Ms Petrus received by registered post a reply dated 10 July to the above letter she sent to AFFORD. The body of that letter is below
Dear Tanya
We refer to your letter dated 25 June 2019.
We understand your need for an explanation as to what happened. However, the Events of 23 May 2019 and the cause of Merna’s death are currently being investigated by the Coroner and no findings have yet been made. We contacted the Office of the State Coroner to request an update as to the status of the investigation and were informed that unfortunately, the investigation may take several months.
Accordingly, as the circumstances surrounding Merna’s death are still being investigated, we are not in a position to provide you with any conclusive answers or explanation as to what happened.
Once again, we provide our sincere condolences to you and your family.
AFFORD declined to provide any answers or an explanation. I found this extraordinary because AFFORD would by now have been in possession of most of the vital information. Ms Petrus was not seeking any conclusive answers as to the cause of death but simply wanted to know what happened, the circumstances that let to that.
On 17 July 2019 Ms Petrus responded to the AFFORD letter dated 10 July. Excerpts from Ms Petrus’s letter are below.
I acknowledge receipt of your letter of 10 July 2019 received 16 July by registered mail.
The letter acknowledges your understanding that I need an explanation yet does not provide one.
It is regrettable that you have chosen not to provide me with an explanation based on the following excuse;
“ …… the events of 23 May 2019 and the cause of Merna’s death are currently being investigated by the Coroner….”
I was not seeking any conclusive answers but simply wanted to know what happened.
Notwithstanding your blatant refusal to provide me with an explanation of how it came about that my daughter was left unattended and drowned in a bathtub, I will seek those answers nevertheless.
Accordingly, please be advised that I have instructed Mr Tony Johns of Inner Sydney Investigations to conduct investigations seeking those answers that for reasons you have chosen not to provide to me.
I have also provided Mr Johns with a signed authority to obtain documents on behalf and generally do whatever is necessary to find out what happened and why it happened.
Tanya Petrus
****** Updated 19 August 9:20pm ******
On 18 July 2019 I wrote a letter to the CEO of AFFORD. A copy is below. I extended to him a period of only 4 days to reply because Ms Petrus needed some answers and if the CEO wasn’t prepared to make arrangements to deliver some answers within 4 days, I would.
Dear Mr Herald
Re: Merna Aprem
I have received instructions from Tanya Petrus to conduct investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of her 20 year old daughter, Merna Aprem.
Tanya has recently written to your Stephanie Forsyth, Executive Manager of Human Resources, who initially sent a letter to Tanya on behalf of AFFORD offering condolences. In that letter of 25 June 2019, Tanya was simply asking for an explanation of the facts surrounding the death of her daughter. It is noted that Stephanie replied to Tanya’s correspondence however failed to provide the requested explanation to Tanya.
In circumstances where the mother of a young autistic woman also suffering epilepsy and who is now deceased, is seeking an explanation of how her daughter drowned in a bathtub whilst in your care, I find it disappointing that you have elected not to provide Tanya with a proper explanation regarding the facts surrounding the death of her daughter.
Tanya is devastated and not knowing the circumstances that led to her daughter’s death is having a detrimental impact on her health including her ability to properly grieve the passing of her daughter.
It is my understanding that by this stage, AFFORD should have provided a detailed account of the incident to your insurance company. Assuming that such an account has been provided it is unfair and inappropriate that you have failed to provide a version of events to the mother of the deceased.
It is widely reported that some organisations providing care as their core business are failing to deliver the care that they promise to deliver, yet are being paid vast sums of tax payer’s money solely on the basis of this promise to deliver. AFFORD received in the last financial year in excess of $40 million to provide care so that these incidents do not happen.
Thus far, AFFORD has not responded in a manner consistent with an organisation that is in the business of providing care. What is evident is the fact that AFFORD has reneged on their promise to offer every form of assistance to Tanya.
It is most unfortunate that this incident occurred, and it is most unfortunate that Tanya’s initial reaction was one of anger however it is understandable given the circumstances. Tanya is regretful of such actions however she needs answers to understand how exactly her daughter died.
What is critical is how an organisation responds to these events.
I would be most pleased to work through this matter with you for the mutual benefit of my client Tanya, your organisation, and the thousands of current and future clients of your care service. To that end I look forward to receiving an invitation from you to meet and discuss the matter generally on how to best resolve it once and for all.
As it is approaching almost 8 weeks since the incident and I would appreciate if you contact me prior to close of business on this coming Monday, 22nd July.
Best regards
Tony Johns
****** Updated 20 August 1:45pm ******
The above letter to the CEO of AFFORD served a few purposes, but of major importance was the fact that I wanted to avoid at all cost any further stress to Ms Petros. This is why I wanted to meet up so we can bring resolution to the matter.
Ms Petros is in a fragile state. I was concerned any further stress could tip the balance. She has 5 other children to look after, no partner, no income and just surviving at best. This is a serious issue to consider.
For the benefit of those who are not aware of the process that is likely after a tragedy like this, I will explain it in some detail. It’s very important to know because it causes a great amount of trauma to the person making the claim including psychological damage and financial hardship. I for one, did not want to be pushing Ms Petros under a bus.
The insurance companies and their lawyers deploy a far too common tactic in order to minimise their payouts to claims and justify their huge fees at all cost. I call it a ruse and this was one of the very reasons I chose not to continue working for insurance companies over 20 years ago. A select group of doctors are in on it too in a highly paid supporting role. Generally these doctors won’t do the examination and court report for the insurance company or their lawyer unless payment is made up front while the claimant has to wait up to about 6 years!
Essentially with this ruse, the injured person seeking compensation is put under so much pressure that they just can’t bear it anymore. The insurance companies and lawyers do this just so they can force the claimant into receiving as little as possible compensation. It works especially good when the claimant is weak and vulnerable and already suffering psychological, emotional and physical damage. If they are not weak and vulnerable, they certainly will be after the process of fighting to make their claim. Let’s look at the likely process that Ms Petros will encounter hereafter.
- Insurance investigators rush straight in after the accident and get the facts and all the witnesses too including signed statements. This puts them at a huge advantage right from the start. The injured person normally has none of these necessary items for court
- Liability is denied by the insurer
- It will take up to 5 or 6 years before you see a dollar.
- Along the way your lawyer will send you to many doctors for examinations who might write court reports saying you couldn’t work in an iron lung.
- The insurance company’s lawyers will send you to many doctors for examination who might write court reports saying things like you are fit to do a triathlon. There is a group of doctors that will write anything they can think up just to get continued and high priced work from the lawyers and insurance companies.
- The insurance company offers you peanuts if anything just before the hearing.
- After years of waiting on social security because you can’t work, but need to eat, the insurance company lawyers armed with the above mentioned reports from their doctors pressure you to settle for as little as possible and threaten to appeal the decision if you run the matter in court, putting you under more pressure to settle.
In this case, if the answers she is seeking indicated there was some negligence, Ms Petros may be due a compensation payment for damages. Those damages are likely to include a claim for psychological damages, ongoing medical costs and loss of income.
To give you an example, Ms Petros if she sues the party deemed at fault for negligence, she is likely to be forced to be examined several times over the years by one of the insurance company doctors or their lawyer’s preferred doctor, that fall into the select group mentioned above.
Let’s take a brief look at a doctor that they might use. This doctor specialises in psychological damage assessment. Dr Wendy Roberts, psychologist of Neutral Bay and a favourite examiner for the insurance companies has been writing their court reports for many years.
Dr Roberts has been accused of many things including lying, drugging a patient’s drink (see Tor Neilsen case) and has allegedly designed a computer test that people making claims are forced to take in her office that can detect an insurance fraudster (you can guess the accuracy of the results of the test?), and the list goes on.
Read below what Dr Wendy Roberts said about Mrs Choi who, when in Hyde Park, was struck in the head by a branch and amongst other things, suffered a fractured skull with traumatic brain injury, and had a titanium plate inserted in her head. She had to have further surgery after experiencing continued pain and a “discharge” from her head.
Dr (Wendy) Roberts said that Mrs Choi was exaggerating her impairment from the accident.
Could you image how Ms Petrus, who is suffering psychological damage, would fare if she went up against Dr Wendy Roberts for examination or someone similar after waiting 6 years for a fair trial on little to no income, and likely no ability to work.
I needed to protect Ms Petrus and her wishes to protect all the other clients at AFFORD and the very best possible way was to meet up, work out what went wrong (if anything) and fix it asap without the need to expose her to the stresses of a damages claim. Nevertheless I had given the CEO of AFFORD 4 days to respond to my letter to him and was looking forward to hearing from him.
****** Updated 21 August 10:50am******
On Monday, 22 July at 5pm the deadline I set for a response from the CEO of AFFORD had expired.
I then called Ms Petros and organised a meeting with her for 1pm the following day.
Finally some answers.
Given Merna drowned whilst in a care facility in a bath it was my view that quite possibly it was an accident. Accidents do happen. The carers for example could have been attending to an emergency because there was also a high needs client in the group home with another client making a total of 3.
On the contrary it was also possible that there could have been some grave errors. These were some of the things that Ms Petrus needed to know and had every right to know what happened.
You might recall that earlier in the matter when Ms Petrus asked me to find the answers for her, I declined and instead directed her to ask AFFORD because they had the answers. But, at that time and unbeknown to Ms Petrus or anyone else for that matter, I secretly conducted some investigations of my own by stealth and found some, but not all of the answers. I elected to keep that information secret for good reasons and sat on my hand and did not inform Ms Petros what I knew.
For reasons I shall explain later, I felt it was still appropriate that AFFORD should have every opportunity to provide an account of what happened not only to Ms Petros but to everyone else too.
AFFORD were aware from media reports that Ms Petrus wanted answers and they did not contact her offering an explanation. They only sent a 2 line letter offering condolences a week later when the media released the story.
AFFORD still refused to say what happened despite Ms Petros sending a formal letter of 25 June and there was no Coronial Inquest or court case in progress, with the decision whether or not to conduct a Coronial Inquest to be considered in October.
Additionally, AFFORD by now would have provided a detailed account of what happened to their insurance company. Why could they provide an account of what happened to their insurers and not to the mother and everyone else too?
If AFFORD had nothing to hide, then why were they hiding?
So AFFORD refused to provide answers to Ms Petrus and suddenly the matter escalated with an investigator, one not under AFFORD’s instruction or under instruction from their insurers, but one acting for the mother of the deceased and one that AFFORD had no control over, suddenly asking questions.
I did mention earlier, in my posting of 20 August at 1:45pm that;
“The above letter (of 18 July 2019) to the CEO of AFFORD served a few purposes, …”
One of the other purposes was to let him know I was prepared to meet and resolve the matter once and for all. Thus he knew there was a way out. I also let him know that;
“What is critical is how an organisation responds to these events.”
The CEO knew this was critical and yet he had not responded to Ms Petrus, to the media, or to anyone. There seemed to be total silence. So he was in a bind now and I expected him to contact me.
The other purpose of the letter of 18 July was to try and flush out any insurance lawyers that might be lurking. After all, the insurance investigators would have to have been instructed by someone, and yes, by a lawyer in this case so they can claim “privilege”. That means the insurance investigator’s report can remain secret and cannot be obtained under subpoena, like in a damages claim. However, I suspect this rule does not apply when the hearing is in a commission, like a Royal Commission for example.
You will note in that letter I also wrote;
“Tanya is devastated and not knowing the circumstances that led to her daughter’s death is having a detrimental impact on her health including her ability to properly grieve the passing of her daughter.”
Although this statement was certainly true, I did not know if by knowing the answers, it would actually help Ms Petrus’s to ever recover. But I was certain this was something someone like an insurance lawyer and someone like our good friend Dr Wendy Roberts might seize upon.
Therefore, I expected contact from AFFORD within 1 day but provided 4 days to be safe given the weekend fell in the middle of the 4 days. But no contact was forthcoming by the deadline.
Also, to be certain the letter arrived at AFFORD and was not lost or delayed in the post, I personally delivered that letter to one of two receptionists working for AFFORD at 2:18pm on 18 July 2019. I took photographs at AFFORD’s head office when I delivered the letter, and sent SMS messages to Ms Petrus straight after the delivery also confirming date and time of delivery.
On Tuesday, 23 July 2019 at 1pm I therefore met with Ms Petrus and delivered the findings of my inquiries thus far on the strict condition that she would not reveal this to anyone for the time being. You should note the findings included but were not limited to the following;
- A bathtub was half filled with water by one of the carers and she saw Merna getting into that bathtub at around 6pm on the evening of 23 May 2019.
- This carer then went to prepare food for the following day.
- The other carer on duty had bathed another client and then put her to bed and then went to the lounge room at the other end of the house watching TV (and possibly on her mobile phone too).
- At about 6:30pm for reasons a check was made and no response was received from Merna and entry into the bathroom was attempted by the carer who was preparing food but she could not get in because the door was locked from the inside.
- Despite being unable to gain entry, and being unable to receive a verbal response from Merna, no emergency services were called at this point.
- The carer who was making food then called the other carer for assistance who at the time was in the lounge room watching TV. She then went outside to see if she could see Merna through the bathroom window, but could not.
- It took about a further 30 minutes for the other carer (who was watching TV) to gain entry to the bathroom by using a knife to somehow unscrew the tiny Phillips head screws on the rose of the door locking mechanism.
- Police and emergency services were called at about 7pm after entry was gained to the bathroom. Emergency services gave the carer instructions to drain the bathtub
- CPR was not performed because Merna was deceased by this time and was found face down in the bathtub.
- From the time Merna was last seen in the bathtub, at least an hour had elapsed until the next time she was seen where unfortunately she was deceased by that time.
- The door knob on the bathroom door was such that it was a round knob and not “D” shaped as specified in the Australian Standards – Access for People With Disabilities.
- The door knob was of the construction type with locking mechanism that could be locked from the inside, but not unlocked from the outside.
25 thoughts on “Part 1: Investigating Merna’s death”
Keep fighting for answers
Nice to hear from you. Thank you so much…..you bet I will keep fighting
for answers….leave it to me…..Tony Johns
This is an important story Tony and it’s in the right hands. We must all sit up and take note.
For my part, you know that I can and do offer support to Merna’s family.
My heart and all best wishes go out to the family and to you as you continue the investigation.
S.
Yes it is important. Normally I would never open my file up to anyone, let alone the public, but given the importance of the matter and the underlying issue, it’s a pleasure to be able to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves, so I’ve broken all the usual rules with this case. Thanks for your offer of support….I’ll speak with Ms Petrus and let her know your capabilities.
Well done Tony. People with disabilities need their families and the community to act as their advocates to ensure that service providers are providing the care that the NDIS are paying for and that the services are providing safe environments, supervision and procedures for all residents that they are caring for. Care plans and Epilepsy plans are written by medical specialists in conjunction with care staff/ family and carers and these plans should be available to all staff prior to a resident moving into a supported house. The plans are supposed to be followed by staff to keep a person with disabilities safe and out of harm.
Be a terrier Tony and hunt this to its rightful end.
Thx for your valuable contribution Belinda. Appreciated. This situation has the lesson to warn everyone to step up and make sure their loved ones are safe. No longer can you assume it’s in the hands of the experts so all is good. Don’t you worry, I will be seeking those plans and lets see how that request pans out. In the meantime, yes I can do that….and yes I will.
Hi To ny
Please fight for Merna and her Mum. This should never of happened to Merna, It makes me.sad and angry that Merna sufdered like this and no mother ahould have to endure the pain of lpsing a child. Our disabillty sector needs a hige overhaul and the care we provide to clienta should be first and foremost a priority. I will.continue to follow your hunt for answers as i too would loke to know why this happened.
Hi Sharon….thank you for sharing your feelings about this with us. I think you are 100% correct, it should be first and foremost a priority. I’ll do my best to get those answers very soon.
Tony as a support worker we are trained to not leave clients alone in baths when they are prone to seizures. Sadly working with alot of people their are some that do sit on their mobile phones and not interact with clients. One day we can hope that people in this industry realise they are not being paid to check the latest on facebook and clients come first.Thankyou forkeeping us updatded. Mernas story makes me even more concious of the job i do. You are a great advocate Tony.
Hi Sharon….so nice to receive your input, thank you. I agree, it’s not only about filling in the time and collecting the pay packet. There has to be the delivery of care in the formulae too, and it sounds to me like you do that and I so pleased to hear that. I am sure the clients needing the care, and the govt so graciously providing the funding for this care will also agree. I was, and still am, supportive of AFFORD coming clean with the truth and I initially took this matter on not suspecting for one minute that they would not. But their actions after the incident are mighty suspicious for an organisation alleging they did nothing wrong. What is it they say, if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck…
I will be posting some more very soon and sadly revealing some more cracks in the AFFORD story. Thx Sharon
Keep fighting for answers and for something to be done about this. Affords actions need to be dealt with properly. Being a ex Afford staff members and being treated so terribly by the head office I feel for your family and I understand your frustration. I will stand by you.
Dear Anon…..I am sad to hear your experience was not pleasant working there….it will be my pleasure to continue fighting and supporting those who need supporting here and whose safety and welfare should be the first consideration in any organisation. This should in fact not be a fight. There is nothing to fight about. AFFORD are paid over $40m per year to provide care to those with disabilities and if they only delivered the care that they widely say they say do ….then there would be no fight. I will be passing all the comments onto Ms Petrus to read and thank you indeed for standing by her. She needs good people like you behind her for quite some time yet so please dont go away. Thanks heaps….TJ
This is why I left the industry. It is terribly under managed with little accountability.
A person with epilepsy should never be left alone in a bath. The Carer could have even sat at the door to give her privacy.
This tragic end could of easily been avoided.
Hi Melissa….this matter relates to just one home, where it might just be the result of a case of how you describe why you left the industry. I’m very disappointed to hear that about the industry and I’m hopeful that Merna’s passing will serve to help many others from facing the same or similar fate. I have all the faith in the world in the upcoming Royal Commission. However in the meantime everyone needs to band together and pick up the slack to ensure safety first. I take you comments on board seriously and in the near future will be directing my investigations into this aspect – why Merna was left alone in the bath? Thank you for your input
keep up the good work, hugs
Gee thx Wendy….I’ll do my best and appreciate the hugs….
Please look into the organisation”s Residential Practice Manual, a person with Epilepsy should never be left unattended in a bath. The door should also have a mechanism to have immediate access to the room. Emergency services should have been called as soon as there was no verbal response and access to the bathroom. Look into accreditation of the premises, staff ratio, training qualifications. I’m 100 % behind Tanya
Gidday Jacqueline…..that’s awesome advice and you can bet everything you suggested will be followed up. I have a full factual team and will launch them soon, but have just been gathering information for them. What you have provided will assist greatly….thank you.
Well done Tony, hope you nail em. Some one needs to be held accountable.
Hi Robbie…it’s amazing the support we are receiving and I do indeed thank you for your support too. Unfortunately my job is not to nail them but is to seek out the truth, and I will do that come what may. However it seems evident they may in fact nail themselves this time round instead of nailing the vulnerable and innocent ones.
My daughter attended a day program with Afford and negligence of basic care happened there aswell, with no response from team leader to area management eight months on.
I hope this family get the answers they deserve and justice is served.
I’m still fighting for accountability for the lack of care my daughter was given and I will keep fighting to defend her right to be provided with the care she needs outside of the care I give her.
Afford should be investigated across the board as I know of other Afford centres that have been neglectful aswell.
Keep fighting the good fight and know that you have other parents behind you.
Hi Sarah…..thx for letting us know about your daughter. I am getting plenty reports about lack of care and this is surprising given the funding provided. Where Merna resided at Woodbine, the group home could cater for up to 5 clients but only had 3 clients at the time. Total funding provided by NDIS to AFFORD, not including funding for day activities etc, was approximately $12,000 per week! So it is very disturbing for me to hear that there could possibly be any lack of care provided under these circumstances, not to mention how disturbing it must have been for your daughter. I’m digging deeper and deeper and shall post Part III very soon. I suggest you consider moving your daughter to a centre that actually delivers the care they are paid to. Thanks too for your words of encouragement. U bet I will keep up the fight for those people in our society deserving better care. This fight is also a fight to pave the way for all of the lovely genuine carers being able to have a voice and more importantly a means whereby they can just get on with doing what they do best, and on that note please be advised I am working on a plan here for them.
I’ve added this document to my bookmarks
I believe if the company was not led by such a villain who enjoys throwing bonuses around to management and peanuts to the actual workers than this would of been avoided. All affford work in a unethical manner encouraged to cut corners to meet admin standards or appear great on paper when in reality they are far from it. If any one questions the upper management or care provided to customers they are quickly and swiftly bullied out or pushed out of good graces.
This is a tragic incident that is unforgivable yet the top man sits laughing backed by a board fully aware his anything but professional and also supported by HR bimbo who will gladly sweep things such as sexual harassment under the carpet.
You have started opening the closet but don’t be alarmed when the clown jumps out with the red nose and calls.
Dear Truthwbhb…..a timely post with insight into my next posting and the one after that too….AFFORD have not dealt with this incident in a responsible manner and I suspect this is because of the reasons you have highlighted in your contribution that is appreciated. Thank you. My investigations have unearthed precisely the things that are the subject matter of your post. The operation, as seen by their website, is typically a corporate structure with focus more aligned for self interest and reward for sales than it is in delivering the care which is their core business and not to mention the very reason why the Govt provides over $40m funding annually to them. Something has to give! I have taken on board the allegations of bullying and the like and doing my best to address this too. Some members of the board might not escape unscathed despite sitting in the audience for the moment.