Vic prison made diabetic worker skip meals

A tribunal has found a Victorian prison indirectly discriminated against a diabetic employee who was forced to work long hours and skip meals.

Langi Kal Kal prison terminated Scott Ferris' employment in mid 2015 for disciplinary reasons, but the former prison store supervisor claimed he was treated unfavourably because of his type-2 diabetes and heart condition.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Monday found the Department of Justice and Regulation did not discriminate against Ferris because of his diabetes and cardiomyopathy.

VCAT Judge Marilyn Harbison said she was satisfied Ferris was let go over allegations of financial mismanagement and verbal abuse of a prisoner, which were totally unconnected to his diabetes.

However, she found Ferris was indirectly discriminated because he was working unreasonable hours at the under-resourced prison, which affected his diabetes.

Ferris and other employees told VCAT there was a threefold increase in prisoners at Langi Kal Kal prison between 2012 and 2014, but the government failed to increase staff by the same proportion.

Ferris said he and other staff were required to work very long hours and had to skip meals because they didn't have time to take breaks.

He said this resulted in his diabetes becoming unstable, which caused him to become irritable, short tempered, and unable to properly complete his work.

Judge Harbison said Ferris' unsustainable working conditions "disadvantaged him as a diabetic" but did not find a link between his diabetes and the disciplinary action he faced over allegations of abuse and mismanaged finances.

Since his employment was terminated for unrelated reasons, VCAT has not ordered the prison to reinstate Ferris or compensate him.