Woman Cops Cheeky $20K Payout After Employer Made Fun Of Her Conspiracy Theories

[News]

We all know someone who likes to take their love of conspiracy theories just that little bit too far. It could be that they passionately tell anyone who will listen about how the Queen is actually an undercover reptile, or maybe they’re just really into Alex Jones.

Well, one woman was able to secure a payout of over $20K after she was asked to take sick leave for speaking out about a number of whacky conspiracy theories.

Jennifer Stefenac was ordered to take the sick leave by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services after her two co-workers reported that she’d been going on about flat-earth and lizard people.

Stefenac was told that she had to stay home to  “ensure the agency’s duty of care to [Stefenac], other employees and clients are upheld”. She was told that she could return once given the all clear by a GP.

Well, she found one who said not only is she mentally stable but she’s just expressing things she enjoys while at work, “She stated that all the topics she was discussing were related to her leisure time reading and topics of interest she found on the internet. She denied any strong beliefs attached to the topics of discussion.”

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal agreed with the doctor and passed down this judgment and a ruling that she should be paid $20,000

Based on the assessment of Ms Stefanac conducted by Dr Samarasinghe, which we did not understand the Department to be challenging, we find that the discussion of conspiracy theories was not symptomatic of any mental illness.

 

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