Stockbroker Ord Minnett is facing claims it underpaid an adviser $230,000 in wages and annual leave by remunerating him only by commissions, in a case that could open the way for millions of dollars in backpay.

Evangelos Theodorou has launched Federal Circuit Court action against the firm for penalties and compensation over the alleged underpayments going back six years and his case is understood to represent the average amount for hundreds of further potential claims against the firm.