The Australian Computer Society fired its then-CEO Kim Denham on 22 May 2009, ending her tenure in a role she had thought would last for three years and thereby, she claimed in court documents recently filed, putting her out of pocket.
Former ACS CEO: Kim Denham
(Credit: Australian Computer Society)
"The applicant's employment with the respondent was terminated by the respondent on 22 May 2009," Denham's statement of claim reads. ZDNet.com.au has obtained the document from the Federal Court. The ACS verified the accuracy of that statement in its defence.
Denham said in her statement that the original advertisement for the CEO position had said that employment for the position would be for a five-year term. Later, according to Denham, the recruitment agent told her that the role would initially be for a three-year term after which the employment could be extended.
Denham claimed that the ACS knew that she wasn't prepared to accept the offer unless the term ran for at least three years and had the opportunity to be extended to five years, since otherwise it "would not be financially viable" for her to relocate to Sydney from Perth where she had been living at the time.
She started employment with the ACS in February 2008. Given that she thought she'd have at least a three-year term, Denham decried the ACS's conduct as misleading and deceptive when it terminated her employment after only one year and four months. There was no reason given in the court documents as to why her employment had been terminated.
The ACS, however, countered that the advertisement for the position only said that the position would be full-time, not necessarily five years, since Denham had to undergo annual reviews. The text in the advertisement, linked to in the statement of claim, read as follows:
"The chief executive is employed on a full-time basis on a five-year contract with annual reviews assessing performance against mutually agreed indicators.
The ACS also denied that it had any idea that Denham considered she would only take employment if she would remain for at least three years or risk being out of pocket.
Denham said the termination had not only cost her the pay she had counted on until 2011, but also damaged her reputation and through that, future earnings. She also had to relocate back to Perth.
The ACS said it wasn't its fault if there had been loss or damage suffered, and even declined to admit that Denham was, as stated in her claim, "an experienced executive manager and information technology professional" with "a Bachelor of Business Administration" and "23 years of experience in management and technology".
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Denham claimed the ACS had also breached her contract by not giving her the six months' pay required because the society had terminated her position without notice. She believed the amount paid should include base salary, superannuation, bonuses and other entitlements, which the ACS denied. The ACS said that it had paid $70,642.21 in lieu of notice, which it considered to consist of six months' salary minus tax.
Denham also put forward other expenses she'd incurred because of her job and didn't believe she'd been reimbursed for. She said that these expenses, including relocation back to Perth, amounted to $12,697.47.
The ACS said it had only received the necessary documents to be able to reimburse Denham when she had served the statement of claim and that it had now paid the full amount. It added that despite the fact it alleged Denham had not shown any proof for why she claimed the full $10,000 for relocating back to Perth, and that it understood that relocation was her own choice and no obligation, it had paid that amount too, leaving a clean slate.
A directions hearing has been scheduled for 20 October in the Western Australian Federal Court, although the matter has also been referred to a mediation conference — where a court registrar sits as mediator in a confidential conference with the parties. This could result in a consent judgement reached by agreement between Denham and the ACS.
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