Former Burnside Council chief executive Paul Deb loses unfair dismissal case in Supreme Court

A sacked council boss who kept intimate photos of himself and a colleague’s former partner on his work email has lost an unfair dismissal case and now faces a six-figure legal bill.

Former Burnside Council chief executive Paul Deb has lost his unfair dismissal case in the Supreme Court.

Mr Deb took legal action in the Supreme Court over the termination of his $241,543-a-year contract in June, 2019.

Chief Justice Chris Kourakis dismissed the claim during a five-minute hearing on Friday morning before ordering Mr Deb to pay the council’s legal costs, estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The council’s barrister, Nicholas Swan, told Mr Kourakis that Mr Deb had rejected a settlement offer of $50,904.72 in July 2020.

Former Burnside CEO Paul Deb outside the council’s chambers in 2020. Picture: Sarah Reed

The decision led to a lengthy trial before Chief Justice Kourakis in the Supreme Court, which heard details of events that led to Mr Deb’s sacking.

Chief Justice Kourakis found Burnside Council was justified in sacking Mr Deb for:

FAILING to stop or encouraging senior staff from sending emails criticising elected members;

NOT telling his mayor, Anne Monceaux, about his involvement in the emails when he had to censure the staff members when councillors complained;

MAKING disparaging comments about several newly elected councillors during a management team meeting, including describing one as a “dumb f…”;

TELLING senior staff he had a mental image of Ms Monceaux in the shower with her husband rubbing her back, and;

KEEPING intimate photographs of himself and his sexual partner, the former partner of another Burnside Council employee, on a work email drive.

The court was told Burnside Council sacked Mr Deb following a formal investigation into a complaint lodged against him one of his senior managers, Martin Cooper, over serious allegations of misconduct.

The complaint followed a lengthy dispute between Mr Deb and a former councillor, Lance Bagster, which also cost the council hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

The court heard the dispute was investigated by State Ombudsman Wayne Lines, who produced a lengthy report finding Mr Bagster had harassed senior staff, including Mr Deb, over a four-year period.

It was told Mr Cooper and another manager, Barry Cant, sent emails to councillors when the report was published accusing them of failing to support senior staff during the bullying by Mr Bagster, describing their behaviour as “shameful” and “reprehensible”.

The emails led to sanctions against the pair by Mr Deb, which were later overturned by councillors following local government elections in November, 2018.

The council’s chief executive performance panel then voted to terminate Mr Deb’s employment after a law firm investigated Mr Cooper’s complaint.

Part of the complaint involved Mr Deb’s use of his council credit card, which was separately investigated by Mr Lines.

In a report released in 2021, Mr Lines found Mr Deb regularly used the credit card on alcohol-fuelled lunches, expensive dinners and late-night drinking sessions.

Statements showed Mr Deb spent more than $18,000 at various restaurants, hotels, bars and cafes between 2013 and 2017.

In his 53-page judgment, Chief Justice Kourakis found the investigation also upheld many of the other allegations made against Mr Deb by Mr Cooper.

“I find that Burnside would have moved to dismiss Mr Deb as soon as it would have been contractually empowered to do so because of the seriousness of the breaches,” he said.

“Mr Deb’s conduct fatally compromised the trust and confidence which was a critical element of his employment relationship.

“It is difficult therefore to conceive of any way in which Mr Deb could have restored that trust or confidence or demonstrated a capacity or willingness to perform his duties as he was bound to do.”

In a statement, Burnside Council chief executive Chris Cowley, who attended Friday morning’s hearing, said the decision was “an excellent outcome for the City of Burnside”.

“It has consumed a considerable amount of time and resources to defend the council’s decision,” he said.

“We can now put the matter behind us and focus on delivering for our community.”

Mrs Monceaux said she was a “relief that, after nearly four years, this process is at an end”.

“I am pleased for the City of Burnside that we have been vindicated by this court decision,” she said.

Mr Deb declined to comment.