OPP fined over dismissal of solicitor who regularly skipped work

THE Office of Public Prosecutions is involved in a bitter legal stoush with one of its own solicitors who was sacked after regularly failing to attend work, sometimes not turning up until 4pm.

OPP Building 565, Lonsdale St, Melbourne. Office of Public Prosecutions. Headquarters.

THE Office of Public Prosecutions is involved in a bitter legal stoush with one of its own solicitors who was sacked after regularly failing to attend work, sometimes not turning up until 4pm.

Former criminal lawyer Anthony Grant was dismissed in March 2012 after failing to tell bosses he was ill and for poor work performance.

But Mr Grant sued and was awarded $93,000 and the OPP fined $10,000 in June after Judge Phillip Burchardt of the Federal Circuit Court found he had been unfairly sacked and ordered he be rehired.

The OPP has appealed the decision at the Federal Court claiming Judge Burchardt failed to "understand the serious allegations of misconduct".

Rachel Doyle SC, for the OPP, told the court today Mr Grant had disobeyed instructions and regularly failed to tell bosses he was sick, meaning important work for criminal prosecutions could not be reallocated. Mr Grant joined the OPP in 2007, but says his erratic behaviour began in 2011 and was due to depression.

The court heard Mr Grant suffered from insomnia and that explained why he was regularly late, sometimes not turning up to work until 4pm.

The case has already been highly embarrassing for the OPP, with Judge Burchardt admonishing former OPP boss Craig Hyland for being “almost contemptuous” under cross examination and showing disdain for the proceedings. The appeal, before a full bench of the Federal Court, continues.

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