Sydney childcare worker alleged ‘shook’ baby

EXCLUSIVE

A Sydney childcare worker has been accused of “excessively shaking” a nine-month-old child before leaving the girl’s cot alone in a storage room in an “attempt to get her to sleep”, news.com.au can reveal.

Sukhee Choi – also known as Sue – was fired from The Love Heart Early Education St Ives in Sydney’s upper north shore in July after the alleged incident was caught on CCTV.

Ms Choi has now launched a dismissal claim against the centre’s owners HAA Education Pty Ltd – arguing that the way she was fired was unfair.

Love Heart Early Education also has centres in Turramurra and Hurstville.

The incident came to light on July 18 when a staff member claimed that Ms Choi had put the child – who was inside a cot – into the storage room.

HAA Education director Boyang Han watched the centre’s CCTV and said it showed Ms Choi shaking the child and the cot while the child was in it.

Ms Han told the child’s parents and referred the matter to the NSW Department of Education, the Office of the Children’s Guardian and NSW Police.

Ms Choi received a dismissal letter from the centre five days later.

The case was heard by the Fair Work Commission this week, with Ms Choi asking for an extension to allow her to file an unfair dismissal claim.

The commission heard from a letter from the NSW Department of Education, which stated the child was “excessively shaken and moved in a cot and isolated in a storage room in an attempt to get her to sleep”.

Commissioner Damien Sloan granted the extension and said that while Ms Choi may find some challenges in demonstrating her dismissal was “harsh, unreasonable or unjust” he could not conclude it was “wholly lacking in merit”.

Commissioner Sloan also pointed out that Ms Choi did not deny the claims but instead was arguing that how she was dismissed was unfair.

“Ms Choi did not lead evidence regarding the merits of the case. She relied on the contents of her unfair dismissal application,” he said.

“She also submitted that the CCTV footage showed another employee of the centre being present at the time of the incident on 18 July 2024 and taking no action to intervene.

“She stated that this called into question the seriousness of Ms Choi’s alleged misconduct.”

The commission also heard from HAA Education, who said that while Ms Choi may have not been given “procedural fairness” her conduct outweighed any “faults”.

“HAA submitted that it would be difficult to imagine a more fundamental breach of the duties of an educator in a childcare centre,” Commissioner Sloan said.

“HAA conceded that Ms Choi was not afforded procedural fairness in the dismissal process.

“However, it contended that the Commission would not find that the dismissal was unfair as a result. Rather, the seriousness of the misconduct outweighed any procedural faults.”

HAA Education, the NSW Department of Education, the Office of the Children’s Guardian and NSW Police have been contacted for comment by news.com.au.

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