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A manager's "playful gesture" to ease workplace tensions with a colleague was "entirely inappropriate", but it wasn't misconduct that warranted her demotion, a commission has ruled.

In July last year, Queensland Health asked the nurse unit manager to respond to an allegation she had made inappropriate physical contact with the colleague while walking past her in a corridor.

Specifically, it alleged the manager "shoulder barged" the colleague, causing her to stumble, and then said, "you looked like you needed that", before laughing. A staff member who witnessed the incident said he could "see the love here", while the colleague stated "really", then returned to her office.

The colleague told the employer she felt the interaction was inappropriate for "someone that barely speaks to me", while the staff member said he wouldn't describe the interaction as "mere 'horseplay'"...