DAVID Cushway is suing UNE for up to $1 million and claims he was ostracised after being dismissed as chief operating officer.
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His case is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing at the federal court in Sydney today.
In his statement of claim, Mr Cushway alleges he was bullied and harassed by UNE’s chief financial officer Michelle Clarke, who repeatedly referred to him as “the filth” in relation to his previous employment as a police officer.
He claims he was also frozen out of the workplace and obstructed from carrying out his duties by chief legal officer Brendan Peet.
Mr Cushway claims when Annabelle Duncan was made vice-chancellor, she stripped him of his main duties and removed staff work diaries.
Then, without the approval of the UNE Council, Professor Duncan allegedly made Mr Cushway’s position redundant after a restructure.
“[Mr Cushway] experienced the harm of intimidation, social isolation, exclusion and suffered inappropriate or offensive remarks,” Mr Cushway’s solicitor Russ Baldwin asserted in the statement of claim.
Mr Cushway exited the University of New England in April this year, 13 months into a five-year contract under which he was paid more than $297,000 a year and had an annual car allowance of $17,500.
Deputy vice-chancellor Faith Trent said UNE would be defending the claim.
“We have not had the opportunity to formally respond to Mr Cushway’s claims, but will do so in due course. UNE will be making no further comment as it is a matter before the courts,” she said.
AT the time of his departure, Professor Duncan said: “UNE is going through a period of change ... this presents a rare window of opportunity to ensure ... our senior executives more accurately reflects the core business of the university, teaching and research.”
The Fair Work Commission tried unsuccessfully to resolve the dispute at a conference on June 10.
Separately, Mr Cushway applied for the position of general manager at Armidale Dumaresq Council.
After failing to be shortlisted for that position, he filed an application under the Fair Work Act alleging dismissal from UNE in contravention of a general protection.
Under his UNE contract, Mr Cushway was responsible for supervising human resources, IT, marketing, facilities management, SportUNE and Services UNE.
[Mr Cushway] experienced the harm of intimidation, social isolation, exclusion and suffered inappropriate or offensive remarks
- Russ Baldwin, solicitor for David Cushway
Trouble began shortly after Mr Cushway’s appointment when, he claims, Ms Clarke “interfered, disrupted and frustrated [Mr Cushway’s] work responsibilities [and] repeated derogatory comments, referring to [Mr Cushway] as ‘the filth’ in relation to his previous employment as a police officer.”
He claims he complained to former vice-chancellor Jim Barber about the behaviour, however, when Professor Barber left UNE, trouble intensified.
“In or around February, [acting vice-chancellor Annabelle Duncan], Ms Clarke and Mr Peet began to engage in conduct that amounted to bullying, harassment and victimisation,” the statement claims.
It said Mr Cushway was excluded from decisions, isolated at an executive level and undermined in the workplace.
By March, responsibilities including asset, contract and facilities management were removed from Mr Cushway.
The matter came to a head on April 10, when Mr Cushway claims he was dismissed from his position at UNE “without cause and without the approval of the [UNE] Council”.
Mr Cushway wants to be either reinstated in his position or compensated for loss of income and for the “intimidation, social isolation, exclusion, and being hindered and/or precluded from finding new employment”.