When Michael Crompton went to work during a union strike his bosses at DP World told him they would look after him.
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He worked at the company as a foreman for 12 years by December 2014 but the strike was too close to Christmas and he did not agree with the reasons for it anyway.
He wasn't alone - six people went to work that day.
Security offered to escort them onto the Port of Melbourne, a sign Mr Compton says that they knew there would be trouble.
There was.
It started with phone calls in which he was called a "rat" and a "dog".
Comments were made on Facebook and death threats were written in toilets and on machinery.
"Poison the rats," they wrote. Someone drew a picture of a tree with six bodies hanging from it.
They were told their safety at work couldn't be guaranteed and Mr Crompton and another worker were put onto WorkCover and paid leave.
When he returned to work he was called to see human resources, and was shown his work overalls which had the words "dead man" written on them.
"They save them to show me," he said.
The bullying went on for months and was never investigated, Mr Crompton said. He said management refused to trace harassing calls and took days to clean up graffiti.
They did put security cameras on his house after his letterbox was damaged - something he said had only stopped happening in the last 12 months.
"We were told if we did work that day that they'd look after us. They didn't," he said.
Mr Crompton is now preparing to sue DP World Australia for negligence. He said he was sacked from the company last year because he was unable to return to normal duties.
"I lost my career, lost everything," he said.
"All I wanted to do was stay at work. I'm just hanging on to the house now.
"I'm worried I'm going to lose my house."
He's got post traumatic stress disorder, has flashbacks and had suicidal thoughts and has been diagnosed with permanent psychological injury as a result of the bullying.
He barely leaves the house and can't get another job - the names of the six workers have been blacklisted by the unions, he said.
Mr Crompton's lawyer Dean Charalambous said the work environment at DP World Australia's terminal in the Port of Melbourne was toxic and described the bullying as horrific.
"Rather than making him a target for verbal abuse and threats of physical violence, his decision not to strike should have been respected," he said.
Both DP World and the Maritime Union of Australia declined to comment, citing pending legal action.
Australian Associated Press
