Told he was too old to be promoted, a Sydney university lecturer says he was underpaid hundreds of thousands of dollars and forced to sleep in his car.
In his Federal Court lawsuit, Geoffrey Fripp accuses the University of Sydney of age, sex and disability discrimination as well as breaches of employment law.
The marketing lecturer is pursuing over $526,000 in damages, alleging the university and supervisor Vincent Mitchell discriminated against him due to his age and sex by refusing to create a flexible workplace or reduce his hours.
Mr Fripp, who was born on November 7, 1962, also claims the university said he was too old to be promoted to a position that better suited his responsibilities and that it overlooked him in favour of younger staff.
Starting at the university in February 2002, Mr Fripp eventually left in October 2021. At that time, he was employed as a teaching focus academic paid over $103,000 a year and working between 50 and 70 hours a week.
As the primary caregiver of four children at home, Mr Fripp was asked to undertake an excessive workload and teach over-crowded classes, the lawsuit says.
After multiple complaints to the university went unheeded, he says his health deteriorated and he was unable to take care of his family.
Medical issues included a diagnosis of stress and anxiety disorder, a severe back hernia injury which caused "extreme agony", leg and foot cramps and nerve damage.
In August 2017, Mr Mitchell allegedly said Mr Fripp had to put his work before his family, and that the university would focus on promoting staff able to contribute long-term.
"Mr Mitchell said to (Mr Fripp) that there were younger employees who had a more clear academic pathway," the lawsuit says.
Later in 2017, Mr Mitchell allegedly said younger academics would be hired because the average age in the marketing department was over 50.
Despite his complaints, Mr Fripp says his workload was increased to the point he was working weekends and nights, and that on at least two occasions he slept in his car between classes.
The university, through the "bullying and harassment" of Mr Mitchell, refused to promote him to better reflect his responsibilities and workload, he claims.
"Mr Mitchell said words to the effect that there was no point in (Mr Fripp) being promoted, it was too late in his career, it would make no difference to (Mr Fripp) and that he would be supporting other employees with more traditional career paths."
The university hired five younger employees between 2019 and 2021, he says, with some of these staff receiving a higher salary.
Mr Fripp alleges he applied for voluntary redundancy in December 2020 but was also turned down.
After being told his workload would increase again in March 2021, Mr Fripp claims he "was deflated, felt hurt, humiliated and upset".
"(Mr Fripp) spoke to his wife and said words to the effect that he couldn't take it anymore, that the workload was impossible to manage."
On April 12, 2021, he handed in his resignation letter. Nine days later, he tried to withdraw this resignation after being told that he hadn't followed the proper university processes for it to be actioned.
Mr Mitchell allegedly refused to accept the withdrawal and Mr Fripp's contract was terminated in October 2021.
He is seeking general damages of "no less than $150,000" plus aggravated damages and compensation for loss of income, the failure to be promoted and medical expenses he incurred.
These losses include over $376,000 in wages and superannuation which allegedly would have been paid if a promotion was offered.
A University of Sydney spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit except to say the university was carefully considering the allegations.
"We are strongly committed to a diverse and inclusive culture," they said.
