Frank Allen: Traffic controller reveals horror details of motorist attack that left him with crippling PTSD
A traffic controller with almost a decade of experience claims he was cruelly sacked by his boss after an on-site incident left him suffering from crippling PTSD.
Frank Allen, 63, had been directing traffic around a truck delivering utility poles in Landsdale, north of Perth, when a driver knocked him to the ground on March 29 and allegedly threatened him with a box cutter.
The Advanced Traffic Management (ATM) worker claims he raised his ‘slow’ sign at the 34-year-old driver of a Ford Ranger SUV, who accelerated and almost hit the traffic controller before swerving at the last second.
Confused but unhurt, Mr Allen assumed the ordeal was over before the driver of the ute suddenly reappeared and pushed him to the ground.
“I noticed he had a box cutter, you know a Stanley knife, in his hand and he was threatening, I’m going to kill you, I’m going to cut you, you old fart,” he told him. 7News.
“He’s screaming and screaming, there’s blood running down my face.”
Frank Allen, a Perth traffic controller with almost a decade of experience, claims he was cruelly fired by his boss after an on-site incident left him with crippling PTSD
Mr Allen said he was able to hit his alleged attacker with his slow sign before one of his colleagues convinced the man to leave and called an ambulance.
Despite avoiding serious injury, Mr Allen said the ordeal ‘really messed him up’.
He now feels more nervous in public and fears the rows will escalate in the same way as the alleged incident with the ute driver.
The controller says his PTSD has also put a strain on his marriage.
After the incident, Mr. Allen needed a week off, but he says he was denied workers’ compensation and continued the week without pay.
“Trying to get help from the companies is an absolute nightmare,” he said.
Ultimately, Mr. Allen received compensation and after four months he returned to his job and reported his experiences to ATM’s HR department.
Mr Allen told HR that there was not enough support available, which he said only made the situation worse.
“(The HR person) is gone and told the general manager, and (the general manager) comes out and calls me into his office and starts taunting me,” he said.
The controller said that as a result of his PTSD symptoms, he lost his cool and told his boss to “stick it where the sun don’t shine,” causing him to lose his job.
He claims the March incident is not the only time he has been abused at work.
Despite avoiding serious injury, Mr Allen said the ordeal ‘really messed him up’ (stock)
The traffic controller was reportedly hit by a car while at work several years ago and, despite his request for support, never received guidance from his employer.
Mr Allen now works for another company in the traffic control sector, but has had to take a pay cut from what he previously earned at ATM.
A week after he was fired, ATM abruptly went bankrupt, with more than $10 million in debt. The company’s workforce of 400 people was laid off by text message.
A 34-year-old man has been charged with common assault in circumstances of aggravation or racial aggravation and with being armed in a manner likely to cause fear.
The Parkwood man, from Perth’s south-east, has appeared in court four times in connection with the alleged assault in March but has yet to enter a plea.
He will next appear in the Joondalup Magistrates Court on September 18.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) for comment regarding Mr Allen’s experience.