Perth Voice Interactive

Stirling city councillor Elizabeth Re has lost an appeal to overturn her sacking as a senior public servant.

An appeals board found that emails were evidence of a conspiracy to cause damage to and embarrass her employer, the office of the inspector of custodial services. Cr Re was sacked on December 21 following the discovery of emails between herself and WA corrective services officer Rozlyn Marshall.

In one, dated October 6, 2011, Ms Marshall tells Cr Re, “there needs to be a well crafted parliamentary question written up that will make the press take notice. They are the ones who will ask the hard questions about wasting tax payer funds”.

Cr Re replies, “If you can think of a good one that will make DCS [department of corrective services] look good and OICS not then let me know and I will see who I can give it to”.

The Public Services Appeal Board ruled, “the exchange evidences both Ms Marshall and Ms Re conspiring to cause damage to and embarrass the inspector, both in the parliament and in the media.

“This is the organisation that was paying Ms Re’s substantial salary.

“It is difficult to imagine a more serious breach of the implied obligation of fidelity and good faith that Ms Re owed to her employer.”

Cr Re told the board she’d been dissatisfied with her position and duties being downgraded. She conceded the emails amounted to misconduct, but argued they warranted a reprimand, not a dismissal.

The board disagreed: “In many respects, this is a remarkable exchange,” it ruled.

“This exchange must also be viewed in the context of the obvious necessity for there to be a professional and ‘arms’ length’ relationship between the two organisations.

“This conduct alone, in our view, taken in isolation from all of the other acts of misconduct, would warrant in itself, the employer summarily dismissing Ms Re for serious misconduct.”

The Voice contacted Cr Re for comment, but she didn’t get back to us.

Cr Re has worked in various WA government departments since 1982. She spent most of her career at the WA health department between 1994 and 2007. In 2011, the WA local government standards panel ordered Cr Re—a veteran councillor and WA president of the australian local government women’s association—to publicly apologise to two councillors for publicly pointing out the way they’d voted.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK