Western Australia's energy minister lashes out at Western Power employees who provided references for a senior manager who was jailed for raping a female colleague on a work trip.

The decision to provide the letters, aimed at helping to reduce the man’s sentence, was labelled appalling, and a ‘terrible lapse in judgement’.

Three employees have been stood down after they provided glowing references in court for a manager who was being sentenced for raping a colleague on a work trip.