Details of the incident were included in a workplace compensation claim made by another officer on shift at the time, who alleged she was subjected to 12 months of "bullying, undermining and harassment" from several colleagues.

The incident occurred on August 29, 2020, when a homeless man who had just been released from a psychiatric facility was brought into custody in Launceston, to be released on bail when sober.

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In the officer's statement, the man urinated under the door which created a slip hazard, and she requested a towel be placed at the door.

Instead, she alleged another officer suggested using the man's own clothes. This officer was then allegedly seen on camera to mop up the urine with the clothing and push the clothes against the door, before - hours later - putting them back in a bag for the inmate to get dressed into on release.

The matter was brought to the attention of the superintendent three weeks later, but the female officer did not want to make an official report due to fear of retribution from colleagues. She ultimately participated in making a report, as required by the superintendent.

"This event, and knowing I had to do a report, made me feel very vulnerable. I was sick with worry," her statement reads.

An "incident package" was forwarded to Tasmania Prison Service management, and the male officer was subjected to an ED5 investigation to determine if he breached the State Service Code of Conduct.

A Department of Justice spokesperson said the matter was "being investigated and ongoing", as per the decision in the workplace compensation matter.

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"The department takes all allegations of employee misconduct seriously and the State Service Act contains processes for investigating misconduct allegations," the spokesperson said.

"We cannot provide further details as these processes are confidential and the department does not comment publicly in relation to individual staffing matters."

The outcome of ED5 investigations are not usually publicly disclosed, and the department did not respond to a question regarding any action taken against the male officer.

The female officer who witnessed the incident continued working until November last year, before she was deemed incapacitated for work on medical grounds due to anxiety.

She then claimed compensation on November 29, due to an increase in bullying after reporting the incident over 12 months ago.

The Department of Justice disputed the compensation claim, and took the matter to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

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The department argued that the cause of the officer's mental health issues was the requirement to make a report of the incident, which it believed was "reasonable administrative action".

The department tendered evidence from a psychiatrist that the cause of the injury was stress around having to make a complaint about the colleague.

It also argued the officer first suffered the injury in October, 2020, rather than 12 months later when she made the claim for compensation. This meant she fell outside of the requirement to give notice of the injury "as soon as practicable" and make the claim within six months.

The female officer argued her injury occurred in November, 2021, as that was when she was deemed incapacitated from work, and she had worked normally until then.

She also argued it was not a result of the need to make a complaint, but the bullying behaviour she experienced.

In her decision, TASCAT deputy president Alison Clunes said the officer's own evidence indicated she had suffered the injury at the time of making the complaint.

As a result, it was due to the need to make a report.

"It is arguable that if the administrative action had not been taken the worker would not have suffered the injury," Ms Clunes said.

She ruled that a reasonably arguable case existed for the Department of Justice, and so the workplace compensation claim was dismissed.

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