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It was unreasonable to inform an employee who had just raised a bullying grievance that his previous allegations weren't substantiated, a commission has ruled in a psychological injury dispute.

Rather than allowing the employee to make the new complaint about his colleague, the employer directed him to attend a meeting some hours later, "where he received the outcome of an entirely different process", Queensland Industrial Relations Commissioner Jacqueline Power said.

The Toowoomba Regional Council employee had sought workers' compensation for a psychological injury, which he claimed arose from 20 workplace stressors, mostly related to "adverse interactions" with the colleague.

The State Workers' Compensation Regulator conceded that the employee's injury arose out of his employment, but it denied his claim based on the reasonable management action exclusion...