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Youth worker sacking ruled unfair by court
BY MARIANNA PAPADAKIS (Leader)
07 Oct, 2010 01:33 PM
THE former manager of St George Youth Services (SYGS), Valentina Angelovska, will be reinstated after the NSW Industrial Relations Commission found she was ‘‘harshly, unjustly and unreasonably’’ sacked last December.
In a scathing judgement against SGYS and the conduct of members of its management committee, NSW Industrial Relations commissioner Elizabeth Bishop said there was no evidence Ms Angelovska committed any serious or wilful misconduct that was alleged.
Ms Angelovska was sacked by a new board under chairwoman Vicky Petrakis last December.
Ms Petrakis and management committee members Mariam Faraj and acting manager John Dangas gave evidence that Ms Angelovska had taken organisational files and used SGYS time and resources to carry out work for the Macedonian Australian Welfare Association of Sydney, of which she was a committee member since 2001.
Commissioner Bishop said she ‘‘unequivocally accepted’’ Ms Angelovska’s evidence and that of former SGYS chairman Mark D’Astoli that Ms Angelovska had acted with management’s approval.
Evidence in witness statements of other SGYS employees was also ‘‘insufficiently detailed and lacking in substance’’.
Commissioner Bishop said while there would be difficulties and tension in the relationship between Ms Angelovska and Ms Petrakis, Ms Faraj and Mr Dangas, people were ‘‘not required to like each other to work together’’.
She rejected SGYS contentions Ms Angelovska’s was ‘‘disloyal, untrustworthy, deceptive’’, saying instead it failed to follow its own procedures concerning summary dismissal ‘‘in virtually its entirety’’ and the decision to sack her came after a series of phone calls, with no opportunity for her to properly defend herself or respond to the allegations.
Ms Angelovska was denied procedural fairness and ‘‘effectively ambushed’’ at committee meetings from which she was excluded, commissioner Bishop said.
Ms Angelovska was never ‘‘derelict or negligent’’ in her duties but rather was a ‘‘very hard-working and dedicated employee’’ with an ‘‘unblemished’’ and ‘‘exemplary’’ record of service over nine years which had assisted the organisation to grow and prosper.
‘‘This whole unfortunate matter seems to have been in reality about control of the organisation,’’ she said. A search of her work mobile phone, which was handed back following her suspension, was a ‘‘gross invasion,’’ according to commissioner Bishop.
BY MARIANNA PAPADAKIS (Leader)
07 Oct, 2010 01:33 PM
THE former manager of St George Youth Services (SYGS), Valentina Angelovska, will be reinstated after the NSW Industrial Relations Commission found she was ‘‘harshly, unjustly and unreasonably’’ sacked last December.
In a scathing judgement against SGYS and the conduct of members of its management committee, NSW Industrial Relations commissioner Elizabeth Bishop said there was no evidence Ms Angelovska committed any serious or wilful misconduct that was alleged.
Ms Angelovska was sacked by a new board under chairwoman Vicky Petrakis last December.
Ms Petrakis and management committee members Mariam Faraj and acting manager John Dangas gave evidence that Ms Angelovska had taken organisational files and used SGYS time and resources to carry out work for the Macedonian Australian Welfare Association of Sydney, of which she was a committee member since 2001.
Commissioner Bishop said she ‘‘unequivocally accepted’’ Ms Angelovska’s evidence and that of former SGYS chairman Mark D’Astoli that Ms Angelovska had acted with management’s approval.
Evidence in witness statements of other SGYS employees was also ‘‘insufficiently detailed and lacking in substance’’.
Commissioner Bishop said while there would be difficulties and tension in the relationship between Ms Angelovska and Ms Petrakis, Ms Faraj and Mr Dangas, people were ‘‘not required to like each other to work together’’.
She rejected SGYS contentions Ms Angelovska’s was ‘‘disloyal, untrustworthy, deceptive’’, saying instead it failed to follow its own procedures concerning summary dismissal ‘‘in virtually its entirety’’ and the decision to sack her came after a series of phone calls, with no opportunity for her to properly defend herself or respond to the allegations.
Ms Angelovska was denied procedural fairness and ‘‘effectively ambushed’’ at committee meetings from which she was excluded, commissioner Bishop said.
Ms Angelovska was never ‘‘derelict or negligent’’ in her duties but rather was a ‘‘very hard-working and dedicated employee’’ with an ‘‘unblemished’’ and ‘‘exemplary’’ record of service over nine years which had assisted the organisation to grow and prosper.
‘‘This whole unfortunate matter seems to have been in reality about control of the organisation,’’ she said. A search of her work mobile phone, which was handed back following her suspension, was a ‘‘gross invasion,’’ according to commissioner Bishop.
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