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‘I did not send the email’: Slater & Gordon chief people officer responds to all-staff correspondence
The interim chief people officer at Slater & Gordon is taking legal action in the wake of an explosive all-staff email, purporting to be sent from her, and says a “cursory” look at the correspondence should make clear who the real sender is.
Jerome Doraisamy
Last Friday (21 February), and as first reported by The Australian Financial Review, an email that BCC’d all staff at Slater & Gordon – purportedly sent by interim chief people officer Mari Ruiz-Matthyssen – contained, among other things, a spreadsheet revealing the salaries and performance ratings of over 900 staff at the national plaintiff firm, as well as allegations about supposed dysfunction in its workplace.
As has been widely reported, the email was sent from an external Gmail account, claiming to belong to Ruiz-Matthyssen and purporting to be a handover document.
Over the weekend, Slater & Gordon chief executive Dina Tutungi said: “The malicious email that was sent to our employees on Friday by someone impersonating a staff member was an invasion of privacy, and I apologise to everyone affected by it.”
“The email was not sent by the interim chief people officer Mari Ruiz-Matthyssen.
“It contains many disparaging, false, and deliberately misleading claims. The information attached to the email, while unreliable, should never have been shared.”
Those comments echoed the remarks of a firm spokesperson late last week, who said that its interim chief people officer “is not the author or the sender of that email, nor is that email address attributed to her”.
Lawyers Weekly does not suggest that the allegations and opinions expressed in the email, and which have subsequently been reported, are true.
Slater & Gordon has referred the matter to Victoria Police, Tutungi added, through the Australian Cyber Security Centre. The spokesperson noted that the firm will “cooperate fully with any police action or investigation”.
In a statement issued on the evening of Monday, 24 February, via BlackBay Lawyers – a Sydney-based, full-service practice, which last year won the Boutique Law Firm of the Year category at the Australian Law Awards – Ruiz-Matthyssen spoke of the “immeasurable” damage and distress this incident has created.
“Since Friday morning, I have been wrongfully accused of sending a highly inappropriate email to Slater & Gordon staff and publicly vilified since that time,” she said.
“The manner in which this matter has been handled over the past four days has caused immeasurable damage and distress to me personally and professionally, as well as to my family.
“I did not send the email.
“A cursory examination of the email and its attachment gave a clear indication as to the likely identity of the sender.
“I have engaged lawyers, and I am in the process of taking legal action.”
BlackBay did not indicate against which party, or parties, legal action would be taken.
Tutungi has also noted that Slater & Gordon is “fully committed” to supporting staff and complying with legal and regulatory obligations at this time and “will not allow” this incident to distract from “the important work we do for our clients”.
“Our cyber incident response team has been stood up and a thorough forensic investigation is being conducted, supported by external specialists,” she said.
“We will have more to say when we know more.”
Lawyers Weekly has sought comment from Allegro Funds, which acquired the majority of shares in Slater & Gordon in 2023, resulting in the firm’s delisting from the ASX.
In December, the firm overwhelmingly voted in favour of an enterprise agreement with the Australian Services Union, through which more than 600 Slater & Gordon staff will be able to access significantly increased employee benefits.
A few months earlier, in July, it identified a payroll error in leave accrual, which it believes has resulted in a collective underpayment of at least $300,000 for around 100 of its current and former employees. As a result, the firm self-reported to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Earlier that month, the firm promoted 42 lawyers to more senior roles, including three to senior practice leader and six to practice leader.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
You can email Jerome at:
