Super Retail returns to court to resume battle with sacked legal officer Rebecca Farrell

Former Super Retail chair Sally Pitkin has retained new lawyers as the company returns to court this week to face off against the chief legal officer it sacked.

From left: Super Retail Group CEO Anthony Heraghty, and former executives and whistleblowers Rebecca Farrell and Amelia Berczelly.

Former Super Retail Group chair Sally Pitkin has hired new lawyers to act on her behalf in the company’s protracted court battle with its sacked chief legal officer Rebecca Farrell, as the case goes back to the Federal Court this week for three days of hearings.

Ms Pitkin, who stood down from Super Retail in October, has hired Arnold Bloch Leibler, while the company and its current executives and directors are retaining the services of law firm Allens.

It means the former Super Retail chair will have different legal counsel to the company whose board she once oversaw, adding to an already crowded courtroom.

A Super Retail spokesman confirmed with The Australian that Ms Pitkin’s legal bills would be picked up by her director’s insurance.

“As a respondent in the workplace litigation proceedings initiated while Dr Pitkin was Super Retail Group chair, it is anticipated any legal costs would be covered by Directors’ and Officers’ Indemnity Insurance.”

Ms Pitkin did not respond to phone calls from The Australian.

On Tuesday, Super Retail and Ms Farrell will face off in court before Justice Michael Lee for three days of hearings where they will argue over whether Super Retail made an enforceable deal with Ms Farrell over her sacking.

Super Retail, which owns chains Rebel, Supercheap Auto, BCF and Macpac, has consistently argued there was no deal. Ms Farrell has maintained that following her sacking from the retailer, after she raised a number of serious workplace allegations against chief executive Anthony Heraghty, then chair Ms Pitkin and other executives, a deal was offered and that Super Retail failed to live up to that agreement.

Former Super Retail chair Sally Pitkin. Picture: Peter Wallis

The alleged deal contains confidential clauses that have been suppressed by the court on the request of Super Retail, and it is unclear whether parts of the hearings this week will be held in private.

Ms Farrell is being represented by Harmers Workplace Lawyers, which is also representing a second whistleblower, former co-company secretary Amelia Berczelly.

The workplace scandal at Super Retail was revealed in April the company outed itself in an ASX statement, saying it expected workplace litigation that could cost it $30m to $50m.

The allegations included the nondisclosure of a sexual relationship between Mr Heraghty and the former head of HR, Jane Kelly, allegedly inappropriate company travel to further that affair, bullying, victimisation and adverse treatment and unsatisfactory company record management.

Super Retail has consistently denied the accusations.

Documents later lodged with the Federal Court by the whistleblowers alleged Super Retail’s whistleblower system was “significantly compromised” by former chair Ms Pitkin and another unnamed board member to suppress staff complaints of the alleged affair between its CEO and human resources boss. Emails and board minutes were deleted, the court documents claimed.

A concise statement of claim by Ms Berczelly, who is also suing the retailer, claimed Mr Heraghty on more than one occasion attempted to “bully, intimidate and coerce” her into amending the minutes of a December board meeting and a related board paper.

Ms Berczelly feared that certain executives had been replaced, and their duties changed, to suppress whistleblower reports of the affair between the CEO and another powerful executive, court documents claim.

The case is continuing.