Bendigo Bank sued by a former employee who was sacked over the handling of confidential emails

The lender’s former business development manager Andrew Waide has launched court action against his employer after he was sacked for allegedly mishandling confidential emails.

Bendigo Bank is embroiled in a court fight with a former business development manager.

A former senior manager at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank claims he ran afoul of the lender’s confidentiality rules after sending himself documents because of the outdated and slow work laptops provided to staff.

Andrew Waide, who worked as a business development manager at Bendigo Bank – covering the Victorian and Tasmanian arms of the lender – has taken aim at his former employer in a claim filed with the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, in an attempt to have the lender pay compensation for allegedly wrongful dismissal.

Mr Waide claims he was fired from the bank after the lender took issue with him sending customer information to his personal email account in order to get around the faulty work laptop he was provided.

He claims the computer he was provided when he started at the bank was “at least 3.5 years old” and was “unable to open multiple spreadsheets at a time”.

“Similarly, he also experienced issues with the laptop’s audio function, which made it difficult for him to clearly hear other staff members during online meetings,” Mr Waide’s claim reads.

“These technological difficulties have made it difficult for the applicant to complete his responsibilities in a timely manner.”

Andrew Waide claims he ran afoul of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s confidentiality rules after sending himself documents because of the outdated and slow work laptops provided to staff. Picture: Michaela Meade

Mr Waide claims that despite attempting to replace the laptop, which he used for 18 months, the bank’s technology staff told him it would not be replaced until at least 2023.

He claims he told his boss Bendigo Bank distribution senior manager Ken Jackman “and his colleagues” of the issues with his computer “throughout his employment”.

Mr Waide claims the issue of him sending personal emails was first brought up in November 2022, when a human resources team member contacted Mr Jackman.

He alleges he told his boss he’d sent emails, but was assured by Mr Jackman “he would ‘sort it out’ and that ‘normally they don’t worry about this’.”

“On the same day, Mr Jackman called the (Mr Waide) informing him that they had been aware of further emails that he had sent to his personal email address and that he would be required to sign an undertaking,” his claim alleges.

“Mr Jackman also told the applicant that he would be standing him down.”

Mr Waide claims he deleted the emails from his account and signed an undertaking, before being told in a meeting with Mr Jackman and Bendigo Bank’s employee relations senior manager, Alexandra Quaglieri, the next day that he would be required to hand over his personal laptop to the bank for screening.

“The applicant provided an explanation, noting that the ongoing issues with his laptop were hindering him from completing his duties and that he had previously raised the issue with the respondent,” Mr Waide alleges.

“Ms Quaglieri stated that she did not believe the applicant’s explanation.

“The applicant stated that he did not open the emails from his personal email address.”

Mr Waide claims he provided his laptop and passwords to his email accounts, but was served with a notice by Bendigo Bank “that the allegations had been substantiated” and he had “compromised the confidentiality of (the) customer’s confidential information”.

In response, Mr Waide claims he told the bank they had mischaracterised the emails’ contents, noting the documents “had no identifiable client or business information and only contained adviser information, which was not confidential”.

“The applicant strongly refuted that the respondent’s contention that there were multiple emails which contained confidential ‘customer’ information, and that rather, they contained advisers’ names, emails, phone numbers and business addresses,” Mr Waide alleges.

“The applicant noted that such details were publicly available on the MoneySmart Advisory Portal – the advisory’s own business website.”

Mr Waide claims that despite this, he was still fired from the bank in December last year.

Bendigo Bank declined to comment.

Originally published as Bendigo Bank sued by a former employee who was sacked over the handling of confidential emails