NSW prison officer's sacking 'unjust'

Corrective Services NSW has been ordered to give one of its officers his job back after he was sacked for allegedly groping a female inmate and making lewd remarks about handcuffing her.

Steven Fraser took Corrective Services to the state's Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) after he was dismissed in 2013 over claims he had inappropriate sexual contact with a female prisoner.

Mr Fraser, who worked at Port Macquarie cells in the mid-north coast, denied the allegations, saying he had been the victim of a colleague's malicious attack.

During a hearing this year, the IRC was told Mr Fraser had touched the woman's left breast while handcuffing her in May 2012.

It was alleged he also remarked: "I would like to do more with you and with these cuffs."

The inmate later claimed he had grabbed her buttocks while putting her in a transport van.

Corrective Services also told the IRC his employment record was "not unblemished" and claimed that in early 2011 Mr Fraser had proclaimed "Hey, lesbians" after entering a staff meal room.

That was "improper and foolish", IRC deputy president Rodney William Harrison decided.

But it didn't support Corrective Services' argument.

Instead, Mr Harrison found an internal investigation was "fatally flawed" because it failed to look into into Mr Fraser claims of a malicious attack by a colleague.

He also found the inmate's evidence to be "beset with inconsistency".

Mr Harrison's judgment, released this week, found Mr Fraser was not guilty of the alleged conduct and his termination was therefore "harsh, unreasonable and unjust".

Corrective Services has been ordered to reinstate him and pay him lost wages.