The Canberra Times have posted a story about one Luciano Lombardo, a public servant that put his hand up for a voluntary redundancy package, then became depressed as a result of being denied.
It almost sounds like a joke story.
Mr Lombardo applied for one of a small number of voluntary redundancies offered in December 2010 as DEEWR and other departments slashed spending. When his application was refused in February 2011, he went to his doctor, who diagnosed severe depression and recommended a ”long break from work”.
Mr Lombardo never returned to his job and was sacked in August last year after refusing to go back to work.
The former public servant, from the department’s targeted jobs projects branch, argued that he would be ”working for nothing” if he stayed until the retirement age of 65 because his pension benefits under the generous Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme paid more than his after-tax wage.”The benefit I had qualified for was higher than my take-home pay [so] the department is forcing me to effectively work for nothing,” he told the tribunal.
Nope it’s real. Mr Lombardo is depressed he did not receive a payout that he wanted but in no way was entitled to.
I’d be upset too, but at 61 he only had 4 years left before he could retire. Refusing to return seems like a poor decision.
The question remains as to whether this Luciano Lombardo is the same Luciano Lombardo who performed so admirably in the RiotACT Sim Challenge in 2008.