Slater & Gordon reports ex-employee to Victoria Police over email scandal

Law firm Slater & Gordon has referred a former employee to Victoria Police after its internal investigation concluded they may have been behind a “series of identical malicious emails” sent to more than 900 current and former staff.

The Melbourne-based legal giant said on Tuesday it had concluded its forensic investigation into the scandal, and found a former employee who was aware of the firm’s security protocols and had previously been authorised to access certain data may have been behind the “premeditated and carefully planned attack”.

Slater & Gordon has referred a former worker to Victoria Police over its email scandal.Credit: Ken Irwin

Slater & Gordon found itself embroiled in a mass workplace scandal last month when a batch of emails, purportedly written by former chief people officer Mari Ruiz-Matthyssen, was sent to more than 900 people between 9.41am and 9.57am on Friday, February 21.

The emails contained criticisms of senior executives, complaints about private equity firm Allegro’s plans to “gut the place”, and a spreadsheet detailing the salaries, bonuses and performance ratings of staff.

The firm on Tuesday reiterated its earlier statements Ruiz-Matthyssen did not author the emails. She made a report to police at the time of the incident.

In a statement on Tuesday, Slater & Gordon said its forensic investigation overseen by the firm’s board and assisted by external advisors found more than 10 emails were sent to circumvent the firm’s email protocols, and that the information and technology staff as well as senior executives were deliberately excluded from the email chain.

The information included in the emails was taken from at least three internal documents, which were “combined and altered,” Slater & Gordon said, with access to the documents restricted to a limited number of people.

“This matter continues to be taken extremely seriously by Slater & Gordon, and we have referred the outcomes of the forensic investigation to Victoria Police,” the law firm’s chief executive Dina Tutungi said in an emailed statement.

“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.”

The emails were reportedly shared about 300 times internally and externally before the firm removed the missives from staff inboxes within 90 minutes to prevent further dissemination.

They contained supposed information about private dinners at the home of Tutungi, as well as rivalries between individuals, investigations into inappropriate conduct and planned redundancies.

The emails also included references to Tutungi approving a payout of at least five months’ pay for convicted fraudster and former payroll manager Bridgett Maddox after she was suspended by Ruiz-Matthyssen for improperly allocating a $200 voucher, the Australian Financial Review reported.

The AFR also said the metadata attached to a spreadsheet in the emails showed it was apparently authored by “Bridgett”. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald are not suggesting Maddox is the person responsible for authoring and distributing the emails.

Victoria Police said: “Cybercrime detectives are continuing to assess the limited information provided by the complainant regarding this matter. As the matter is ongoing, we are not in a position to comment further at this time.”

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