CONSIDERATIONS IN SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS A Panel Discussion - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS

A Panel Discussion

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

Chris Sargent - Sparke Helmore Paul Black - Carrington Chambers Jodie Bradbrook – Bradbrook Lawyers Adrian Cartland - Cartland Law A Panel Discussion

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

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 almost bi-weekly at various local, national and international seminars

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

Conciliation conference Judicial settlement conference Judicial pre-hearing conference

Valerie Edwards is aged 31 years. In 2009 she

• btained

employment with Bank France which had established a branch

• ffice

in the city in the expectation that it would make inroads into the local domestic and commercial banking market.

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

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.

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

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 hardworking valued employee.

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

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.

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

Valerie returned to work In March 2016. 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 tedious.

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

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

• plan. Valerie was outraged.

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

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.

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

Valerie lodged a compensation claim in August 2016. 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 post- natal depression, that this was the reason why she performed so poorly at work and it was the reason why she was unable to

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

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 post- natal depression and that the cause of her psychological condition was the

• verzealous management she was

subjected to on her return to work.

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

Bank France felt quite aggrieved by Valerie’s claim. It felt that it had gone out

• f 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 it wished to strongly defend the claim.

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

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 bullying.

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

In May 2017 if was referred for a pre- hearing conference. By now Valerie was in a much better space. She had

• btained 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.

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

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%
• f her lost wages
• Valerie’s net loss is about $7,500
• Recovery of interim payments

Seminar proudly sponsored by:

It settles!

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

Seminar proudly sponsored by: