ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS

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Dina Lucas
5 years ago
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1 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS A Panel Discussion

2 Chris Sargent - Sparke Helmore Paul Black - Carrington Chambers Jodie Bradbrook Bradbrook Lawyers Adrian Cartland - Cartland Law

3 Adrian Cartland is the creator of Ailira, the Artificially Intelligent Legal Information Research Assistant, which automates legal research and advice via use of algorithms. Ailira is currently used by hundreds of Australian tax advisers from Big 4 to small practices. Ailira has been taught to provide tailored legal information to consumers, initially in the areas of domestic violence, business structuring and wills and estates. Adrian won SA Government funding to deliver a prototype of Ailira to assist victims of domestic violence and has continued to himself fund the development. By providing free (or cheap), convenient and fast legal information and assistance, Ailira helps to deliver access to justice to those who may not have been able to afford it. Adrian has held specialised women s self defence courses and contributed to books on female self-defence. In 2007 Adrian won the National Golden Gavel competition with the persona of The Taxinator. He is also an in-demand speaker on artificial intelligence and the future of the legal and service industry, presenting

4 Conciliation conference Judicial settlement conference Judicial pre-hearing conference

5 Valerie Edwards is aged 31 years. In 2009 she obtained employment with Bank France which had established a branch office in the city in the expectation that it would make inroads into the local domestic and commercial banking

6 Valerie was employed as a customer services operator. She answered customer queries personally and by phone and logged potential customer details into a data base.

7 Valerie enjoyed her work. She particularly liked dealing with customers. She had a high level of job satisfaction. She was given very little supervision and found that absence of direct management quite liberating. She thought of herself as a

8 In 2014 Valerie became pregnant. In March 2015 she commenced maternity leave. She originally planned to be off work for 6 months. Unfortunately Valerie developed post-natal depression. She contacted Bank France who readily agreed to extend her leave by a further 6 months. It regarded itself as a sensitive employer that respected the need for work/life balance.

9 Valerie returned to work In March Whilst Valerie was away much had changed at Bank France. Its penetration into the local market had not gone as well as expected and its management was placed under the direct control of the head office in Sydney. All of the telephone enquiries were now dealt with through a call centre. As such Valerie s job had changed dramatically. She was now essentially a data entry operator. She found the work

10 The new management structure put in place KPIs and performance targets. Valerie found them to be unrealistic and demeaning. She resented being micro managed. She consistently failed to meet her performance targets and was spoken to by management. In July 2016 she was advised that she was to be placed on a performance improvement

11 She thought that Bank France was uncaring and was bullying her. She found her manager in Sydney to be particularly difficult to deal with. She ruminated over the changes at work. She was also finding the transition from being a stay at home mother to a full time employee very challenging. At the suggestion of her partner she consulted her GP who was so concerned he made arrangements for Valerie to be admitted to the Adelaide Clinic.

12 Valerie lodged a compensation claim in August RTWSA paid her interim payments pending its investigations. In October 2016 RTWSA resolved to reject Valeri s claim. It had obtained a report from her G P that suggested that Valerie had never fully recovered from her postnatal depression, that this was the reason why she performed so poorly at work and

13 Valerie consulted West Lawyers. They filed an Application for Review in the SAET. They arranged for Valerie to be seen by Dr Grieg, psychiatrist. Dr Grieg provided a report that reasoned that Valerie had largely dealt with her postnatal depression and that the cause of her psychological condition was the overzealous management she was

14 Bank France felt quite aggrieved by Valerie s claim. It felt that it had gone out of its way to accommodate her post-natal depression and felt quite resentful that Valerie was alleging that her psychological problems were of its making. Bank France s HR Manager filed a Notice of Desire to be Heard. She contacted RTWSA and made it clear that

15 The compulsory conciliation conference did not go well. RTWSA made no offer. Bank France expressed its outrage. Valerie was reduced to tears and her solicitor indicated that if there were to be any further conferences Valerie would need to be in a separate room. This outraged Bank France who thought it was being unfairly accused of

16 In May 2017 if was referred for a prehearing conference. By now Valerie was in a much better space. She had obtained some part time work as a receptionist at a local medical centre. She loved the work. She also enjoyed working part time. She had no interest in returning to work at Bank France.

17 Issues for discussion:- 2-3 day hearing all of Valerie s medical records to be summonsed Valerie private health insurance paid the Adelaide Clinic cost of $6,000. Bank France do not want her back at work Valerie had income protection that paid her 75% of her lost wages Valerie s net loss is about $7,500 Recovery of interim payments

18 It settles! 4 weeks notice plus $5,000 paid by way of a release for discrimination and the claim remains rejected

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