Aurora employees at the Rocherlea depot in Tasmania walked off the job today to support a colleague who was sacked because he'd lodged an official complaint about a supervisor.

The man's sacking has been described by Discrimination Advocate Dino Ottavi, who had been helping the man prepare his claim to the Anti-Discrimination Commission, as "the worst case of victimisation of an employee by an employer that I have seen in more than 20 years working in the discrimination field".

"The man's allegations are serious and there is independent evidence to support the complaints that were made," said Unions Tasmania Secretary Kevin Harkins.

"Aurora conducted an investigation of the complaints and produced its own mysterious report.
"The company then sacked the man without ever giving him a copy of the report nor telling him what was in it.

"Aurora just gave him a letter saying his complaint to the ADC, which is completely lawful, had led to an irretrievable breakdown in the relationship between him and the company.

"This simply goes against every notion the community has of natural justice and will make any employee think twice before lodging a lawful claim about discrimination in the workplace.

"Aurora has sacked this man three weeks before Christmas in the hope the stress and a lack of money will cause him and his family to drop his anti-discrimination claim.

"This is an outrageous case of a wealthy and powerful employer using bullying tactics to sweep serious allegations under the carpet instead of dealing with them properly."

Mr Harkins said the morale of Aurora workers was "already at rock bottom but this company seems to find new ways to make its employees feel even worse".

He said the Rocherlea depot workers had decided themselves to walk off the job to support their workmate and, "unfortunately, this means there will be no electrical infrastructure jobs finished today in northern Tasmania".

Mr Harkins said the sacked employee would be supported by the union movement and "all legal options open to him through the Anti-Discrimination Act and the Fair Work Act will be vigorously pursued".

"It should never have come to this," Mr Harkins said. "Aurora is a publicly owned company answerable to a Labor minister but it is acting more and more like one of the worst rogue outfits you can imagine.

"Aurora must be held to account for its actions, and will be."