Search
This area does not yet contain any content.
Justinian News

Unread emails ... Family law barrister in Adelaide neglects to attend to emails ... Reminders to renew her ticket studiously ignored ... Unravelling chaos ... Trials invalidated ... Liability of Law Society and Conduct Commissioner ... Breach of statutory requirement ... Damages ... From our Team on the Torrens ... Read more >> 

Politics Media Law Society


An Australian Abroad ... An essay with pictures … Egypt and the Grand Museum … No end to the antiquities … Down the Nile on a dahabiya … Tombs and temples … Paris and industrial-scale tourism … The Yarts & Kulture ... Read on >> 

Free Newsletter
Justinian Columnists

Annihilation of the now ...Trump's campaign of destruction ... Fake emergencies ... Pointless and farcical executive orders ... Gangsterism ... Looting ... Corruption ... Shakedowns ... White rage ... Christian nationalism ... Roger Fitch unloads ... Read more >> 

Blow the whistle

 

News snips ...


Tasmanis's Lieutenant Guv (and CJ) Christopher Shenanigans is unlikely to decide the consitiutional impass ... The current guv'nor, former Circuit Court judge and family lawyer Barbara Baker returns to Guv House next week ... Labor hates the Greens and is unlikely to form a coalition government ... Another election looks likely as the numbers for both sides are brittle and unreliable ... However, Baker can ask the Labor leader to test his numbers. 

Justinian's Bloggers

Letter from London ... Weather report ... Starmer sinking ... Farage rising ... Fake law firm ... Fake cases ...  NHS employee cleans up with woke case for hurt feelings ... Floyd Alexander-Hunt files from Blighty ... Read more >> 

"In its self-image, Australia has changed from a nation of tough, resilient Anzacs to a snowflake society of victims. This can be seen in the rise of identity politics, cancel culture, trigger warnings, unconscious bias, workplace Broderickism, LGBTQIA+ pleading, colonisation impacts, hidden disabilities and welfare dependency. Hurt feelings, offensive words, micro-aggressions, workload stress and anxiety now form the basis of workers compensation claims."

Mark Latham MLC - a dissenting statement in a parliamentary report on proposed changes to workers compensation law ... May 2025 ... Read more flatulence ... 


Justinian Featurettes

Zeilgeist litigation ... Matt Collins KC on live-streaming of high-profile trials ... Social media nightmare ... Abuse of barristers ... Chilling emails ... Trials as a form of public entertainment ... Courts sleepwalking into a dangerous zone ... Framework needed to balance competing interests ... Paper delivered to Australian Lawyers Alliance Conference ... Read more >> 


Justinian's archive

Justice Jeff Shaw's bingle ... Supreme Court judge's drink-drive experience ... Cars damaged in narrow Sydney street ... Touch driving ... Missing blood sample ... Equality before the law may not apply to judges ... Judges behind the wheel ... From Justinian's Archive ... November 4, 2004 ... Read more >> 


 

 

« Sully's swansong | Main | Nicola Roxon »
Friday
Sep092005

Allens fires the wrong people 

The bitchy email exchange between two members of staff in the Sydney office of Allens spiralled out of control ... Missing ham and cheese sandwich drama ... Secretaries sacked but fee earner who made offence personal remark survives ... Values  

Katrina's missing lunchThe level 19-20 emails between two Allens Arthur Robs members of staff in Sydney have flown around the globe and scarcely a soul with a computer would not have seen them.

The weird thing is that this exchange between Katrina Nugent and Melinda Bird contained no recommendable quality of wit, yet was found to be so riveting by so many ... just like eavesdropping on someone else's inane phone conversation. 

It is one thing for two people to engage in spiky remarks mistakenly thinking it is private, but in this case arguably it is a third party, Allens' solicitor Jeremy Levitt, who made the most personally intrusive email contribution.

Justinian will not republishing Levitt's remark because it affects the alleged sexual relations of others. All we can say is in the Allens' "value" system fee-earner Levitt survives while Nugent and Bird get the chop.

It was immediately after Levitt breached one of these women's privacy that the email banter within the firm promptly stopped, only to accelerate externally.

Allens' flack James Walker issued a tight-lipped official response:

"We are not prepared to discuss any disciplinary action taken or the reasons for it. Given all the circumstances, we have acted appropriately.

Employees have been reminded of the appropriate use of email as a result of an unfortunate email exchange last week." 

Why should these two women be sacked over their silly private email, yet the bloke who posts the really snide observation lives on?

Fresh from its James Hardie triumphs that's what Allens must mean by acting "appropriately".

How does it fit with Allens' boast as an "employer of choice for women"?

The firm also has a set of high minded "values policies":

"We respect each other, we consider others and respect people's individuality and their contribution. It's important to us that individual staff members feel free to be who they are and that they feel safe and valued."

For those who can bear it, here's the exchange, with the gross bits expunged.

From: Nugent, Katrina
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 9:39 AM
To: sydflr19A – Senior Associates; sydflr19L – Lawyers; sydflr19S – Support Staff
Subject: My lunch ... 

Yesterday I put my lunch in the fridge on Level 19 which included a packet of ham, some cheese slices and two slices of bread which was going to be for my lunch today.

Over night it has gone missing and as I have no spare money to buy another lunch today, I would appreciate being reimbursed for it.

Katrina Nugent

From: Bird, Melinda
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 9:55 AM
To: sydflr19A – Senior Associates; sydflr19L – Lawyers; sydflr19S – Support Staff
Subject: RE: My lunch ...

Katrina

There are items fitting your exact description in the level 20 fridge. Are you sure you didn't place your lunch in the wrong fridge yesterday?

Regards
Melinda

From: Nugent, Katrina
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:06 AM
To: Bird, Melinda
Subject:

Melinda

Probably best you don't reply to all next time, would be annoyed [sic] to the lawyers.

The kitchen was not doing dinner last night, so obviously someone has helped themselves to my lunch.

Really sweet of you to investigate for me!

Katrina Nugent

From: Bird, Melinda
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:14 AM
To: Nugent, Katrina
Subject: RE:

Katrina

Since I used to be a float and am still on the level 19 email list I couldn’t help but receive your ridiculous email -lucky me!

You use our kitchen all the time for some unknown reason and I saw the items you mentioned in the fridge so naturally thought you may have placed them in the wrong fridge.

Thanks I know I'm sweet and I only had your best interests at heart. Now as you would say, 'BYE'!

Regards
Melinda

From: Nugent, Katrina
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:15 AM
To: Bird, Melinda
Subject: RE:

I'm not blonde!!!

From: Bird, Melinda
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:16 AM
To: Nugent, Katrina
Subject: RE:

Being a brunette doesn't mean you're smart though!

From: Nugent, Katrina
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:17 AM
To: Bird, Melinda
Subject: RE:

I definitely wouldn't trade places with you for 'the world'!

From: Bird, Melinda
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:19 AM
To: Nugent, Katrina
Subject: RE:

I wouldn't trade places with you for the world ... I don’t want your figure!

From: Nugent, Katrina
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:21 AM
To: Bird, Melinda
Subject: RE:

Let's not get person [sic] 'Miss Can’t Keep A Boyfriend'.

I am in a happy relationship, have a beautiful apartment, brand new car, high pay job ... say no more!!

From: Bird, Melinda
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:23 AM
To: Nugent, Katrina
Subject: RE:

Oh my God I'm laughing! happy relationship – yep really happy relationship with ..., beautiful apartment (so what), brand new car (me too), high pay job (I earn more) ... say plenty more... I have 5 guys at the moment! haha.

From: Bird, Melinda
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:24 AM
To: Pawlukowski, Dorothy
Subject: FW:

From: Bird, Melinda
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:24 AM
To: Watson, Amanda; Snowdon, Georgina
Subject: FW:

From: Pawlukowski, Dorothy
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:27 AM
To: Cresswell, Michael; Thompson, James; Levitt, Jeremy; Bechler, Matti; Tehrani, Ash; Burrell, James
Subject: FW:

ok this is the last one, it's getting too intense. 

Regards,

Dot Pawlukowski
Mergers & Acquisitions

From: Levitt, Jeremy
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2005 10:29 AM
To: Pawlukowski, Dorothy; Cresswell, Michael; Thompson, James; Bechler, Matti; Tehrani, Ash; Burrell, James
Subject: RE:

apparently (on good information) ...

[This is the personally intrusive bit of tittle-tattle that Justinian is reluctant to republish. Call us old fashioned – but that’s it.]

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.
Editor Permission Required
You must have editing permission for this entry in order to post comments.