Four workmates of a young waitress who killed herself by jumping off a building have been convicted and fined a total of $A335,000 over relentless bullying before her death.
Brodie Rae Constance Panlock, 19, was subjected to the humiliating bullying by workmates at Cafe Vamp in Hawthorn, in Melbourne's east, before she threw herself from a multi-storey car park in September 2006.
Former workmates Nicholas Smallwood, 26, now of Queensland, Rhys MacAlpine, 28, of Kooyong, and Gabriel Toomey, 23, of Melbourne, all pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of persons.
The cafe's owner Marc Luis Da Cruz and his one-man company MAP Foundation pleaded guilty to two charges, including failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment.
All four men were convicted on the charges, with magistrate Peter Lauritsen on Monday describing their actions as "the most serious case of bullying" and saying he would have doubled the penalties if they had not pleaded guilty to the charges.
