Mystery as City of Perth’s top lawyer sues for wrongful termination
Mystery surrounds legal action taken by the City of Perth’s former top lawyer who is suing the council for wrongful termination.
She also claims her employer failed to offer her protections under Western Australia’s whistleblower laws.
Wrongful termination
Michelle Antonio served as general counsel at the City of Perth for two years before she left in February.
The reasons for that departure are now the subject of the legal proceedings in the state’s Supreme Court, reports WA Today.
Court documents name the City of Perth and chief executive Michelle Reynolds as defendants.
According to the documents, Antonio’s claims “arise from the conduct of the defendants between about 23 of January and 6 February”.
She is seeking compensation for “wrongful termination and breach” of contract.
She is also claiming damages under WA’s Public Interest Disclosure Act, a law that provides protections for whistleblowers.
Further details about the allegations remain a mystery, despite WA Today making inquiries with Antonio’s legal representatives.
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City of Perth offers no comment
In response to questions from WA Today, the City of Perth issued the following statement:
“We don’t comment on matters before the Court nor do we discuss employees, past or present.”
Mayor denies rumours
Meanwhile, Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas responded to a question during a radio interview earlier this year about a rumour that a member of the council’s leadership team had recently left.
It was suggested the person had made unspecified “allegations” about “people at the top”.
“What I can tell you is we’ve got a CEO and five general managers who together with a CFO is our executive leadership team, so there’s seven in our senior management team and none of those have left,” Zempilas said at the time.
“We’re running a very, very tight ship here at the City of Perth.”
The case will go to trial in January if mediation fails in the meantime.
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