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Struggling Single Mum Takes On Catholic Church In Unfair Dismissal Case

Struggling single mum takes on Catholic Church in unfair dismissal case

A struggling single mum has taken on the Catholic Church in an unfair dismissal case.

The woman took the action after the church sacked her in the lead-up to Christmas.

Her dismissal followed complaints she made about bullying and inappropriate work practices.

The church agreed to pay the woman a confidential settlement after it tried to have the case thrown out.

Struggling single mum takes on Catholic Church

Rox Subramany met with Ku-Ring-Gai parish priest, Father Shaju John in December.

During the meeting, she complained about bullying from a co-worker while working in the pastoral centre in the Diocese of Broken Bay.

She alleged a co-worker screamed and swore aggressively at her face and “charged” at her with “clenched fists”.

“I was shaking and frightened,” she said.

“I felt unsafe. And I thought I was going to be physically attacked.”

Subramany also complained to the parish priest about the church’s failure to provide her with a signed contract of employment and compulsory tax forms until six months into the job, as required by law.

The church also failed to provide pay slips.

Furthermore, she outlined “misuse of parish funds”, and told the priest that her supervisor instructed her to lie to an auditor, which she refused to do.

Seven days after the meeting, she received an email from Father Shaju, telling her “there will no longer be any work for you.”

Stripped of volunteer duties too

The church not only sacked Subramany, it also stripped her of her much-loved duties as a volunteer baptism coordinator.

She told Fairfax:

“Not only did they fire me weeks out from Christmas and leave me stranded without an income, there was not even as much as a phone call, from anyone, asking if I was okay.”

Church tries to have case thrown out

Subramany filed an unfair dismissal claim in the Fair Work Commission, but then the church tried to have the case thrown out.

It argued the parish employed Subramany, and not the church, and therefore making the claim invalid.

An employer with less than 15 employees is considered a small business, and an employee of a small business is ineligible to make an unfair dismissal claim during their first 12-months of employment.

Subramany wrote to Bishop Peter Comensoli telling him the church had not treated her with “Christian values”.

Furthermore, she told him the organisation had failed to follow any sort of “professional, ethical or legal guidelines.”

He never responded, however, the church eventually agreed to pay Subramany a confidential settlement.

Lack of compassion and morality

Miles Heffernan, Litigation Director at IR Claims, said he is disgusted with the conduct of the church.

“The Catholic Church has a long history of showing a complete lack of compassion and morality in legal issues,” he said.

“Despite Jesus hating hypocrisy, the Catholic Church always serves it up in bucket loads.

“What a despicable thing to do – sacking a faithful loyal employee for doing the right thing by speaking out about bullying and questionable work practices.

“The Church not only unfairly dismissed Ms Subramany, it took adverse action against her for making a complaint.

“That made her eligible to file a general protections dispute involving dismissal.

“General protections claims usually result in a higher compensation pay outs than a ordinary unfair dismissal claim.”

Subramany says she hasn’t lost her faith, despite her appalling treatment at the hands of the church.

“My case shows how the might of the Catholic Church will wield its power to deal with employees who fall foul of their system.  

“They told lies about me, intimidated me, denied everything and then attempted to buy my silence with a confidentiality clause.”


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