Four hospital employees who lied about being sexually harassed by a nursing manager are still working at a State health clinic, while their victim is claiming to have been demoted, according to an investigation by the Ombudsman.

Nursing manager Carmel Grixti, 48, was cleared of sexually harassing four women who worked at an unnamed State health centre back in 2012.

They had falsely claimed that Mr Grixti had forced them to perform sexual acts on him in the workplace.

It was only when a magistrate pointed to inconsistencies in their testimony that one of the women broke down on the witness stand and admitted “the story was all made up”.

But despite being cleared of all charges, Mr Grixti is claiming he was demoted by being transferred from his post, which he had held for 14 years.

My wife and I spent seven months crying so much in bed that our pillows were soaked with tears

The move came shortly after he was acquitted in court and was never explained, he said, adding that he also suffered a pay cut.

The investigation by the Health Commissioner in the Ombudsman’s Office was published earlier this week. It was provoked by Mr Grixti, who asked why no action had been taken against the four women.

He also questioned why he was not allowed to defend himself before the matter was handed over to the police, as is normal practice in the public service.

After the court case, Mr Grixti told Times of Malta his life had been turned upside down. “My wife and I spent seven months crying so much in bed that our pillows were soaked with tears,” he said.

In the investigation, a Health Department spokeswoman told the commissioner that no disciplinary measures had been taken against the four women because the police had not issued any perjury charges against them.

It turned out that because the women had changed their story on the witness stand at the 11th hour, they avoided any criminal action being taken against them.

The authorities said three of the women were moved to another department but the fourth retained her position.

The commissioner raised concerns that allowing the victim and the women to work together could potentially affect their healthcare delivery.

Asked about the alleged demotion, the health authorities insisted there were no grounds to reverse the decision as this was not malicious and the authorities were entitled to move personnel accordingly.

The commissioner said the fact that the police did not take any action against the four women did not mean the Department of Health could not do so itself.