Unreasonable behaviour and malicious complaints

4 May 2023

Unreasonable behaviour and malicious complaints

Our presumption is that complaints are made in good faith. However, sometimes people making complaints may seek to use our procedures unreasonably, inappropriately or in ways that are malicious, or intended to cause distress, disruption, or nuisance. In these situations, time spent on dealing with the complaint becomes disproportionate.

For complainants who are deemed to contact the CSSA unreasonably, excessively, and because of the frequency and nature of their complaints cause a significant level of disruption to the extent that it impedes other work, measures may be put in place such as specifying the method and frequency of any ongoing contact and ensuring that there is a single point of contact for complainants.

Raising a complaint does not in itself constitute unreasonable behaviour and neither does escalation through the complaints procedures, or criticism of the complaints process.