VIC Can I Sue My College for Negligence?

[enchant]

I've suffered from so much stress and anxiety just because my college is unwilling to communicate and are hiring untrained/incompetent counsellors. Counsellors have ruined my life and my relationships at the college, and the college is not willing to resolve issues with me.

I've clearly advised them of my disability and the required accommodations but they would not provide them appropriately, and when discussing this with counsellors, they were unable/unwilling to help. I was given all sorts of ridiculous advice such as "don't talk to the program manager about anything else other than timetables". And I was provoked with "I don't understand you", and "you are always like that", when I was feeling distressed about events at the college, and then I was misrepresented in derogatory ways such as "wanting to make a staff member feel guilty" and other similar things because I argued with the counsellor.

Counsellors are rude and judgemental, don't care about my priorities or beliefs, instead were forcing their ideas onto me. The main counsellor and the "counselling manager" aren't even registered practitioners so I am not able to complain to any proper outside authorities. Counsellors also abuse their authority and discuss with staff behind my back about their "professional opinions" about me, and when I confronted them, they made up stories about me to the staff and "advised" the staff to not listen to me.

The "counselling manager" decided to suspended me over a simple argument that could have been easily resolved by communication. I feel like this is more of her abusing authority and bullying me because I disagreed with her. No one listened to me despite requests to reception and the manager, and the staff continued to act upon the unprofessional counsellors' ideas.

I've also been threatened with calls to police, hospitals, etc just because of asking for information to make a complaint about these counsellors. The staff are also particularly rude and will not answer inquiries, and is intentionally taking 30 days to provide the misconduct proceedings record just because the policy states "it can take up to 30 days". It's quite concerning that a record is still not yet available for something that happened over 2 months ago. I really wonder what is going on with this college.

I would like to claim damages for the suffering they have caused. Does anyone have options on what I might be able to do and would I be able to sue the college or the counsellors for negligence?

Thanks in advance!

 

[JS79]

Hi,

There could be a claim for professional negligence against the college/counsellors' if you are able to prove that:

1. there was a duty of care owed by the college and counsellors' to you;
2. that they breached that duty of care;
3. there was damage (injuries sustained - including psych); and
4. the damages were caused by the breach of duty.

Unfortunately for psychiatric damage - that comes under the category for general damages. You will need to be assessed by a doctor (you will get a chance to get your doctor to assess you too) as having a psychiatric impairment of over 10% in order to be compensated for your injuries in this area.

Did you have to take any time off work?

Did you have to pay to see any psychiatrists?

I suggest that you contact a local personal injury lawyer (maybe one who does defamation too - so you can see if you can kill two birds with one stone) see Get Connected with the Right Lawyer for You
to be connected to one.

 

[enchant]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.
I am a freelancer so I didn't take time off work but as a result of this I didn't take up any jobs during the period. I was lying in bed because I have lost all motivation... I feel like I was experimented on my psychology students "counsellors" and the college took their ideas as authority even though it has only caused me harm. Counsellors were clearly aware of my distress but have misunderstood it because of their lack of experience.

This college is run by a large company and I've seen a lot of bad reviews about them, written by staff, about how they think of students as walking money. I've done very well at other colleges and never had any problems.

I feel they have also discriminated against my disability, because they did not provide accommodations properly which led to these issues. They also picked on my disability related behaviour intentionally and claimed that it was misconduct, instead of providing concessions. I've seen a psychologist many times throughout these issues and she has written letters and spoken to the staff at the college, but things have not changed. I ended up being put on medication for anxiety and depression. She has agreed to write a letter for me and provide receipts for her sessions about the issues.

Do I need to see a psychiatrist instead of a psychologist? Can the college deny their responsibility by saying that they don't understand my disability?

To add to the previous post, I've also been advised to make a complaint to the human rights commission, but would my issue be too trivial for them to deal with?

 

[JS79]

Keep your receipts for all visits to the psychologist. Would suggest primarily to make a complaint to the human rights commission if that has been suggested previously.

It will be then best to go see a personal injury lawyer, see
Get Connected with the Right Lawyer for You
to be connected to a lawyer in your local area. They will be able to see the full story and inform you if you have a case worthwhile pursuing.