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Concerning information has exposed the alleged identity of a former HR manager who accused Slater & Gordon of withholding annual leave entitlements.
Information provided to Lawyers Weekly, and first reported by The Australian Financial Review, accused Slater & Gordon’s human resources manager, Bridgett Maddox, of theft in connection with past employment.
In partly redacted documents filed with the Federal Court, Maddox recently claimed Slater & Gordon refused to pay out about $4,400 in annual leave.
Sentencing remarks from the County Court of Victoria in September 2018 linked the theft offences to Maddox’s alleged former identity, Bridgett Jones. Maddox has reportedly denied any link to the name Jones.
Judge Liz Gaynor sentenced Jones to a 12-month term of imprisonment and a three-year community corrections order on three charges of theft and one of obtaining financial advantage by deception. Jones had entered a plea of guilty.
“I know you are receiving a sentence which is a blow to you,” Judge Gaynor said.
“What it is, is all the chickens coming home to roost. Every single one of them.”
Between May and October 2016, while employed as the sole member responsible for payroll and tax management at Ultro Constructions and Recruitment, Jones made 20 separate unauthorised transfers of $34,906 and created false entries to allow the payments to be made.
Across 31 unauthorised transfers from February to November 2016, Jones stole a further $47,056. The final $5,382 was stolen between April and June 2016.
As for the final charge of obtaining financial advantage by deception, Jones disclosed a false annual salary of $152,000 when she only made $65,000 in respect of a loan application for a Cheltenham property.
When questioned by police, Judge Gaynor said Jones claimed it was the company that should be investigated because she was “under a verbal agreement” and claimed she “received extra payments for covering things up”.
The sentencing remarks then delved into Jones’ criminal history, including a 12-month term of imprisonment in June 2017 for swindling more than $240,000 from her immediate past employer, Premium Floors.
In July 2014, Jones was placed on a suspended sentence for 66 charges of unlawful use of company credit cards. The total sum was $11,288.
Back in 2007, Jones had a community-based order for changing a cheque from an unfair dismissal case from $400 to $4,000. A year prior, she was given a good behaviour bond for using fraudulent credit card details she obtained at Pizza Hut.
At the end of her remarks, Judge Gaynor said she hoped Jones would “come out and set up a life for you that is satisfactory”.
“You have certainly got the intelligence and the strength to do that. I have no doubt,” Judge Gaynor said.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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