Skip to main content

Former health boss Jane Holden appeals against unfair dismissal ruling

Former public hospital boss Jane Holden has launched an appeal against the Supreme Court’s dismissal of her $2 million unfair sacking claim.

Ms Holden was dismissed as the acting chief executive of Tasmanian Health Organisation South in 2014, soon after the release of a Tasmanian Integrity Commission report into the health system.

Ms Holden sued the State Government, seeking payment equal to the balance of her five-year contract, plus for another five-year term, equal to nearly $2 million.

Earlier this month, Justice Shan Tennent ruled in the Government’s favour, dismissing Ms Holden’s claim in its entirety and ordering she pay the Government’s costs of defending the civil action.

Ms Holden’s legal team claimed she was sacked as a result of findings made by the Integrity Commission.

Ms Holden rejected those findings when she gave evidence during her week-long civil case last year. She was made redundant with a $211,000 severance payment by Health Minister 

Michael Ferguson in June 2014, three months after an Integrity Commission Report was released.

Ms Holden said her reputation was damaged by her sacking and its subsequent publicity.
After applying for numerous jobs, she said she was only able to find a hospital administrator role in the Papua New Guinea highlands on half her old salary.

In papers filed with the Supreme Court this week by Hobart barrister Audrey Mills, Ms Holden has set out 13 grounds of appeal against Justice Tennent’s ruling.

Among them, it is claimed the judge erred in failing to hold that Ms Holden was entitled to be paid out the balance of her contract and also failed to find she was entitled to damages for the lost opportunity of a new five-year contract.

Ms Holden’s appeal seeks to have the original judgment wholly set aside and replaced with a ruling that the appellant’s claim for damages be assessed by the court and the Government pay costs.

AWPTI - workplace investigation Sydney and through-out NSW, QLD and Victoria. Workplace training national wide


Misconduct investigations, bullying investigations, harassment investigations & sexual harassment investigations, complaint investigations, grievance investigations, discrimination investigations




Labels:
Location: Sydney NSW, Australia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lorna Jane vindicated after two-year, $570,000 bullying case

Legal experts are urging businesses to train their staff in up-to-date social media policies this year, after activewear brand Lorna Jane won a two-year legal battle in November against a former employee who claimed the company was responsible for the psychiatric impacts of bullying at work. Former Brisbane store manager Amy Robinson filed a legal claim against Lorna Jane in 2015, seeking $570,000 in damages. The former manager claimed Lorna Jane was negligent and should be held responsible for her being bullied by a learning and development manager at the company, which led to psychiatric illness and a loss of employment and future employability. The company came out swinging against the claims early on,   posting a later-deleted Facebook post in 2015 defending itself against the claims  and saying it had been “very disappointed” by what had been reported in the media about the case. The claims included that Robinson was bullied and called a variety of names while...
Post a Comment
Read more

Recent decisions at the Fair Work Commission

Knowledge is power when it comes to managing claims risk Unfair dismissal applications are all too common and employers regularly find themselves in hot water when they are on the receiving end of one. Whilst the outcome of every unfair dismissal case tends to turn on its own individual merits, opportunities to learn and refresh one’s knowledge consistently arise – and knowledge is power when it comes to managing claims risk. To assist you in managing your unfair dismissal claims risk, this article set out some important lessons and reminders compiled from a number of recent unfair dismissal decisions made by the Fair Work Commission. If an employee has “gotten away” with certain conduct in the past, it can be difficult to later justify their dismissal for such conduct. In West v Holcim (Australia) Pty Ltd [2017] FWC 2346, the applicant employee allowed a casual labour hire worker to operate a crane without adequate supervision. This was despite the fact that the labour hire wo...
Post a Comment
Read more
The serious threat SMEs are ignoring: One in two small businesses don’t have a policy for bullying claims One in two small businesses do not know how they would respond if bullying allegations were raised by their staff, according to new research, leaving them open to significant costs and productivity issues. But workplace experts say these concerns can be prevented with forward planning A survey of 400 businesses from employment relations advisory Employsure found one in two Australian small businesses don’t have a “defined action plan” for when bullying is raised at work, with many unaware that they could face costs related to dispute resolution or even penalties relating to bullying cases in some states. The research, which surveyed businesses with up to 15 employees, found those businesses with between two and four employees were the most likely to be unaware of best practice processes for dealing with bullying claims, with only 40% of businesses saying they know the st...
Post a Comment
Read more