- Gordon Fraser Scully has launched a court battle against Sydney Metro
- Scot claims he was racially discriminated against due to his ‘accent’
EXCLUSIVE
A legal row has erupted among top bosses at Sydney Metro as a Scots-born project director claims he has suffered racial discrimination and bullying in the workplace.
Gordon Fraser Scully, 43, is currently an associate director in the Metro surveillance sector after working on Australia’s biggest public transport project for eight years.
But in a legal action against NSW Department of Transport, he alleges he suffered racial discrimination in 2023.
According to his claim tendered in the NSW Civil Court, Mr Scully applied for a promotion in February 2023 and was interviewed for the position in April.
However he was unsuccessful, and he claims he missed out because a female boss told colleagues ‘people could not understand him because of his Scottish accent’.
A male colleague told Mr Scully on March 21, 2023, that the manager said the project director ‘talked too much, his communication style was causing misunderstandings or that his approach was wrong’.
Mr Scully interpreted the feedback as ‘potentially racially vindicative targeting my Scottish accent and heritage’, according to the documents submitted in his claim.
Gordon Scully, 43, (pictured with his wife) launched legal action against his employer, Sydney Metro, last year
Sydney Metro is Australia’s biggest public transport project. Pictured is one of the project’s construction’s sites in western Sydney
Two days later, Mr Scully attended a meeting with the male colleague and his female second manager, where she advised that there had been feedback that ‘was not positive’ and that his style ‘was not palatable to others and there is too much conflict’.
Following the meeting, Mr Scully concluded that there appeared to be ‘an association between my racial background and the unfolding recruitment process’.
Mr Scully also claims another colleague told him to ‘go out into the street and jump under a bus’ in June 2023 because he sent an email to a senior manager criticising his conduct during a meeting.
Mr Scully launched his legal action last August, claiming Sydney Metro breached anti-discrimination laws, by denying or limiting his access to opportunities on the ground of race.
However, his matter was dismissed last month after the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal found there was no evidence that Mr Scully was discriminated against because he was Scottish.
During the hearing, Mr Scully said he believed that he had been discriminated against because of his Scottish accent and heritage, but conceded that no one had stated or inferred that was the case
Pictured is a Sydney Metro train during testing in 2018
In her ruling, Senior Member Larissa Andelman noted that while Mr Scully believes the problems identified by his female colleague stemmed from his race or accent, he also acknowledged that no one directly stated or implied that was the case.
‘There is no evidence that the assertion that Mr Scully talked too much was linked to his Scottish heritage,’ Ms Andelman found.
‘There is no evidence that the respondent preferred to appoint a person to the role who was not Scottish.
‘There was no evidence of any association between Mr Scully’s Scottish heritage and the decisions made by the respondent during the recruitment process.
‘Furthermore, Mr Scully was interviewed for the role following the meeting on March 23 and there is no evidence that the meeting had any bearing on the recruitment process or decision making.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Scully for comment.
