Chief people officer sues employer over fallout from email hack

The former chief people officer of Slater & Gordon has accused the law firm of allowing her to become the “public face” of a scandalous email breach that exposed the personal and financial information of hundreds of staff.

Mari Ruiz-Matthyssen claimed her career and reputation “have been gravely and unjustly damaged” by Slater & Gordon as a result of its allegedly “woeful management” of the February email scandal that saw the leak of hundreds of staff’s salary and performance data.

Legal proceedings have commenced in the Victorian Supreme Court.

Via a statement by special counsel Monica Allen at BlackBay Lawyers, Ruiz-Matthyssen said Slater & Gordon was in possession of “clear information” that showed she had no involvement in the leak.

“Despite this, the firm instructed staff not to contact her, excluded her from the all-staff meeting and failed to take appropriate steps to correct the record, allowing Ruiz-Matthyssen to be wrongly implicated and portrayed as the public face of the incident,” Allen said.

A spokesperson for the firm said: “Slater & Gordon has made clear in its public statements on the matter that Ruiz-Matthyssen was not the author or sender of this malicious email. As this matter is before the courts, it’s not appropriate to comment further.”

In the lawsuit, Ruiz-Matthyssen alleged that chief executive Dina Tutungi was told that former payroll manager Bridgett Maddox was responsible.

Ruiz-Matthyssen was responsible for overseeing an investigation into Maddox’s allegedly inappropriate conduct with a $200 gift voucher.

Several days after the leak, Ruiz-Matthyssen alleged Maddox sent her a text that claimed she felt “glee” at seeing Ruiz-Matthyssen being accused and told her to “keep my name out of your mouth”.

Slater & Gordon has been accused of a breach of a duty of care and negligence for a failure to take action to prevent the data leak.

Allen said BlackBay was “resolute in our commitment” to ensuring Slater & Gordon was held accountable “for their actions – and inactions”.

“The firm’s handling of this issue has been deeply flawed,” Allen said.

“As a result, our client has endured significant and ongoing personal and professional harm.”

In a statement issued in mid-February, Tutungi said the email was an invasion of privacy and apologised to those impacted.

She added the firm was “fully committed to supporting our staff through this time, and meeting all our legal and regulatory obligations, including the reporting of privacy breaches and compliance steps”.

Tutungi also clarified that Ruiz-Matthyssen was not responsible.

The matter was referred to Victoria Police.

“We will continue to assist the police with their work.

“While this malicious incident was unwelcome, our priority remains our people and the critical work we do every day to provide access to justice for our clients,” Tutungi said in the past.