Workplace bullying claimant David Hingst covers his face as he leaves the Court of Appeal in Melbourne, Australia Friday. Picture: AAP Image via AP Workplace bullying claimant David Hingst covers his face as he leaves the Court of Appeal in Melbourne, Australia Friday. Picture: AAP Image via AP
Canberra - An Australian engineer who attempted to sue his former company claiming his ex-manager farted near him several times in a bid to get rid of him, has lost his workplace bullying case on appeal.
David Hingst, 56, had sued Construction Engineering for 1.8 million Australian dollars (1.2 million US dollars) in a bullying lawsuit, but a judge in April found that there had been no evidence of bullying.
Hingst filed an appeal earlier this week, but Victoria's Supreme Court on Friday ruled against him, refusing to grant him leave to appeal.
According to court documents seen by dpa, Hingst had alleged that his supervisor "would regularly break wind on him or at him... thinking this to be funny".
"I would be sitting with my face to the wall and [the manager] would come into the room, which was small and had no windows," Hingst told news agency AAP on Monday.
"He would fart behind me and walk away. He would do this five or six times a day," he said, arguing, "flatulence is a form of bullying."
Hingst also alleged that the ex-supervisor had abused him over the phone, using profane language. He said he had suffered psychological injuries as a result of the bullying.
Hingst was dismissed from the company in 2009 and has not returned to work.
He had claimed in his appeal that the judge had erred in her verdict and he did not get a fair and balanced hearing, saying he felt she was biased against him.
"The applicant's complaints... are totally devoid of substance," the Court of Appeal said Friday.
Hingst was ordered to pay the defendant's legal costs.
Hingst said he would take his case to the High Court, Australia's top court, according to AAP.
