Is your manager grumpy in the mornings? Poor sleep can lead to abusive and unethical behaviour
A public servant tasked with ensuring safe workplaces likened a high-ranking bureaucrat to “Jabba the Hutt” and said he wanted to “bitch flog” her with a plank of wood covered in nails.
Vanda Carson
Craig Ronald Servin was working as a principal inspector with the state’s Office of Industrial Relations when he sent a Jabba the Hutt meme to his colleagues in a group chat “ostensibly about the executive director” on December 13, 2024.
He captioned it: “Just sitting back on a Friday afternoon, guzzling a vat of chardy, eyeing off the hapless beast she’s about to swallow whole, thinking about the human detritus and carnage she’s caused during the week … and thinking … life is good at the top!”.
He reacted with laugh emojis when his colleagues responded to the meme with endorsement or encouragement, then he wished a meteor would hit “her”, ostensibly about the executive director.
Details about the body shaming and violence against women comments were revealed in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission on October 16 when Industrial Commissioner Samantha Pidgeon threw out Mr Servin’s claim that the disciplinary process was unfair.
Craig Servin, who was a Principal Inspector with the Office of Industrial Relations Picture YouTube
On January 13 this year, Mr Servin also admits asking his colleagues in a group chat if he can use a plank of wood with nails sticking out to “slap” the female executive director.
“Are you allowed to use a piece of 4x2 with rusty nails projecting out the slapping end. Hate to use my hand and accidentally miss, hit her arse and lose my arm!” Mr Servin wrote.
His comment was in response to a message from a colleague showing a picture of the Grim Reaper overlaid with the words “ALL THOSE IN FAVOR [sic] OF BITCH SLAPPING STUPID PEOPLE SAY … HELL YES!!’. Mr Servin also wrote: “HELL YES! I’m closest so if I get everyone’s proxy I will bitch flog her for everyone!” in response to the Grim Reaper meme.
When a colleague asked to be part of the “bitch slapping”, Mr Servin replied: “Of course mate. The more the merrier”. Mr Servin, who has worked for the Queensland government for 42 years, was distressed during the QIRC case because he believed the group chat messages with his colleagues were private.
Ms Pidgeon upheld a previous finding by Deputy Director-General Donna Heelan that Mr Servin was guilty of misconduct.
“It may be that in sending the messages, Mr Servin was ‘venting’, however Mr Servin is a very experienced employee and it is reasonable to expect that he understood such ‘venting’ was not appropriate,” Ms Pidgeon wrote.
“On any reading of the content of the message thread Mr Servin was involved and contributed to, that conduct was improper and inappropriate,” Ms Pidgeon wrote. “The conduct certainly had the capacity to reflect seriously and adversely on the public sector entity in which Mr Servin was employed.
“Mr Servin was a Principal Inspector with the Office of Industrial Relations. He was tasked with ensuring safe and healthy workplaces.
“The message exchange, undertaken in a private capacity but among work colleagues included body-shaming and encouragement of gendered violence toward women in leadership roles,” Ms Pidgeon found.
“I accept that the process has been distressing for Mr Servin and that he is distressed at the potential impact on his professional reputation arising from the findings. However, these matters do not make the decision unfair or unreasonable,” Ms Pidgeon wrote.
Mr Servin now works for the department of transport, the decision states.
On Mr Servin’s own analysis of events in his letter of 29 June 2025, he says that his actions were ‘poorly judged’, that he expressed his concerns ‘in a way that was sarcastic, pessimistic, or undermining’, that the text messages he sent were ‘unprofessional and clearly disrespectful’, that he caused offence and ‘hurt, embarrassment and discomfort. “I regret that my words and actions, even in a private setting, contributed to a workplace environment that was disrespectful and unprofessional,” he wrote in his apology “I accept the impact this had not only on OIR colleagues and leadership but also on the broader public service’s integrity,” he wrote
Jabba the Hut holds Princess Leia captive in a scene from "Return of the Jedi". Jabba the Hut holds Princess Leia captive in a scene from "Return of the Jedi". A public servant tasked with ensuring safe workplaces is set to face discipline for comparing a female top departmental official to Star Wars character “Jabba The Hutt” in work group chats and saying he wanted to “bitch flog” her with a plank of wood covered in nails.
Craig Ronald Servin was working as a principal inspector with the state’s Office of Industrial Relations when he sent a Jabba the Hutt meme to his colleagues in a group chat “ostensibly about the executive director” on December 13, 2024.
He captioned it: “Just sitting back on a Friday afternoon, guzzling a vat of chardy, eyeing off the hapless beast she’s about to swallow whole, thinking about the human detritus and carnage she’s caused during the week … and thinking … life is good at the top!”.
He reacted with laugh emojis when his colleagues responded to the meme with endorsement or encouragement, then he wished a meteor would hit “her”, ostensibly about the executive director.
Details about the body shaming and violence against women comments were revealed in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission on October 16 when Industrial Commissioner Samantha Pidgeon threw out Mr Servin’s claim that the disciplinary process was unfair.
Craig Servin, who was a Principal Inspector with the Office of Industrial Relations Picture YouTube
On January 13 this year, Mr Servin also admits asking his colleagues in a group chat if he can use a plank of wood with nails sticking out to “slap” the female executive director.
“Are you allowed to use a piece of 4x2 with rusty nails projecting out the slapping end. Hate to use my hand and accidentally miss, hit her arse and lose my arm!” Mr Servin wrote.
His comment was in response to a message from a colleague showing a picture of the Grim Reaper overlaid with the words “ALL THOSE IN FAVOR [sic] OF BITCH SLAPPING STUPID PEOPLE SAY … HELL YES!!’. Mr Servin also wrote: “HELL YES! I’m closest so if I get everyone’s proxy I will bitch flog her for everyone!” in response to the Grim Reaper meme.
When a colleague asked to be part of the “bitch slapping”, Mr Servin replied: “Of course mate. The more the merrier”. Mr Servin, who has worked for the Queensland government for 42 years, was distressed during the QIRC case because he believed the group chat messages with his colleagues were private.
Ms Pidgeon upheld a previous finding by Deputy Director-General Donna Heelan that Mr Servin was guilty of misconduct.
“It may be that in sending the messages, Mr Servin was ‘venting’, however Mr Servin is a very experienced employee and it is reasonable to expect that he understood such ‘venting’ was not appropriate,” Ms Pidgeon wrote.
“On any reading of the content of the message thread Mr Servin was involved and contributed to, that conduct was improper and inappropriate,” Ms Pidgeon wrote. “The conduct certainly had the capacity to reflect seriously and adversely on the public sector entity in which Mr Servin was employed.
“Mr Servin was a Principal Inspector with the Office of Industrial Relations. He was tasked with ensuring safe and healthy workplaces.
“The message exchange, undertaken in a private capacity but among work colleagues included body-shaming and encouragement of gendered violence toward women in leadership roles,” Ms Pidgeon found.
“I accept that the process has been distressing for Mr Servin and that he is distressed at the potential impact on his professional reputation arising from the findings. However, these matters do not make the decision unfair or unreasonable,” Ms Pidgeon wrote.
Mr Servin now works for the department of transport, the decision states.
On Mr Servin’s own analysis of events in his letter of 29 June 2025, he says that his actions were ‘poorly judged’, that he expressed his concerns ‘in a way that was sarcastic, pessimistic, or undermining’, that the text messages he sent were ‘unprofessional and clearly disrespectful’, that he caused offence and ‘hurt, embarrassment and discomfort. “I regret that my words and actions, even in a private setting, contributed to a workplace environment that was disrespectful and unprofessional,” he wrote in his apology “I accept the impact this had not only on OIR colleagues and leadership but also on the broader public service’s integrity,” he wrote
