Yahoo News Engineer who says boss kept farting at him appeals bullying case to seek £1m payout
An engineer who claims his former supervisor repeatedly farted at him has appealed against a court ruling that found he wasn’t bullied.
David Hingst, 56, a contract administrator based in Melbourne, Australia, claimed his former boss Greg Short would “lift his bum and fart” on him up to six times a day.
He sued his former company, Construction Engineering, in 2017 for £1 million, but the Supreme Court of Victoria ruled there was no bullying and threw out the case.
But Mr Hingst appealed the decision and was heard by the Court of Appeal on Monday.
He said the alleged flatulence had caused him “severe stress”.
He told the Australian Associated Press: ”I would be sitting with my face to the wall and he would come into the room, which was small and had no windows.
“He would fart behind me and walk away. He would do this five or six times a day.”
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At the original hearing, Mr Short said he didn’t particularly remember breaking wind near Mr Hingst but “may have done it once or twice, maybe”.
He denied he had done it “with the intention of distressing or harassing” Mr Hingst.
The court heard that Mr Hingst referred to Mr Short as “Mr Stinky” and sprayed deodorant at him.
He claimed Mr Short had farted at him in a bid to get rid of him, news.com.au reported.
Mr Hingst previously claimed in court that Mr Short verbally abused him about his work and made phone calls in which he called him “an idiot”.
Mr Hingst said he had not received a fair trial last time round and that the judge was biased against him.
But Justice Phillip Priest said on Monday that the previous judge appeared to have shown “remarkable latitude”.
He added: “The very distinct impression I get is you were given every opportunity to put your case.”
The Court of Appeal will rule on the case on Friday.
