Dentons and CEO Doug Stipanicev caught in anti-vax storm
The local chief executive of the world’s largest law firm has been accused of sending an email containing anti-Semitic material, promoting conspiracy theories about Covid-19 and endorsing claims the judicial system is ‘corrupt’, in a Federal Court lawsuit.
The local chief executive of the world’s largest law firm has been accused of sending an email containing anti-Semitic material, promoting conspiracy theories about Covid-19, and endorsing claims the judicial system is “corrupt”, in a Federal Court lawsuit filed by a former partner of the firm.
On Tuesday night after being approached by The Australian, Dentons announced Australasian CEO and Australian chair Doug Stipanicev has “decided to stand aside” while the firm conducts an investigation into his conduct, following allegations he sent a “conspiratorial and anti-Semitic” report to property partner Guy Albeck.
The report allegedly included claims Covid-19 vaccines contain “living organisms with tentacles and self-assembling nanobots” and argued a “criminal network of satanists”, including a well-known Jewish banking family, was seeking to “rule the world”.
Dentons has filed a defence against Mr Albeck’s claims, with a spokesman saying the firm “takes its workplace obligations extremely seriously and aims to make the workplace a safe working environment for all”.
“The report was not sent on behalf of Dentons,” the spokesman said. “The contents of, and views expressed in that report, do not reflect Dentons’ views or values.” The firm has also filed a cross-claim against Mr Albeck.
Mr Albeck, who began working with the firm as a partner in its property law practice in June 2019, is seeking compensation from Dentons and Mr Stipanicev, along with a formal declaration that he may make a public-interest disclosure about conduct within the firm.
In a statement of claim filed with the court, Mr Albeck says he made multiple complaints of bullying against Dentons partner and former board member Kon Tsiakis. He said the complaints were made orally with partners John Stragalinos, David Sharp, Jenny Andrews, Robyn Chatwood, Hamish Walton, Paul O’Halloran, Nick Linke, chief operating officer Maureen Migliazzo and Mr Stipanicev.
In December 2022, former Dentons HR director Kerry Ford initiated a formal investigation into the complaint and found eight of Mr Albeck’s claims were made out. Two allegations “could not be substantiated” because of a direction not to interview clients “or anyone then outside of Dentons”.
“Despite those findings, Dentons did not dismiss, suspend or demote Tsiakis, did not apply any financial sanction to him, did not require him to undertake any anti-bullying training, and did not require him to apologise,” the statement of claim reads.
Three months later, Mr Albeck says he received an email from Mr Stipanicev – which included excerpts from Mr Ford’s report – saying in “his personal view” Mr Albeck had “engaged in conduct less than what is expected from a partner” and had “damaged the culture of the Melbourne office”.
After conducting inquiries with Dentons employees, Mr Stipanicev wrote to Mr Albeck alleging five instances of serious misconduct. He directed Mr Albeck to resign, saying otherwise the alleged misconduct would be referred to the Dentons board with a recommendation to terminate his employment.
“The letter alleged the applicant had leaked ‘confidential information to CBP (a competitor) about an internal hire’, but without further detail the applicant could not understand the allegation,” the statement of claim reads.
“The letter alleged certain ‘previous incidents’ showing a ‘pattern of conduct’ revealing ‘errors’ in his work, but without providing further details the applicant could not understand the allegation.”
Mr Albeck said although the letter was not accompanied by any evidence, he believed if the matter was referred to the board he would likely be dismissed. As such, he resigned on June 9 last year.
Mr Albeck negotiated a settlement agreement which included a requirement that Dentons “would keep the agreement and the negotiations leading up to it confidential”.
After he left, however, he became aware of “at least four Dentons employees” who viewed material related to his departure, which he claims was in breach of the settlement.
The Covid report
In the court documents, Mr Albeck also alleged that in July 2022 he attended a work function at which Mr Stipanicev told him it was “not a good idea” to get the Covid-19 vaccine, and said “vaccines were bad and had caused his son’s autism”.
Later that evening, Mr Stipanicev forwarded Mr Albeck a copy of a document titled “vaccine death report” compiled by a US doctor, which claimed while the coronavirus could be effectively treated with medicines including invermectin, governments “were shutting down doctors who successfully used these treatments”. The report said the vaccine contained toxins that allow “thoughts and feelings to be inserted into the mind by communication with 5G telecommunication networks” and the vaccine could “change human DNA and make people transhuman”.
Mr Albeck said Mr Stipanicev “appeared to endorse the views expressed” within the report. “(The vaccine death report said) governments, including in Australia, knew the vaccines killed and were hiding the true number of deaths from the public, but nonetheless wanted all people vaccinated so that they enslave the population and control their minds, as part of a ‘New World Order’,” the statement of claim reads. “The ‘New World Order’ was sought by those who ‘rule the world’, namely a criminal network of satanists, including the Rothschild family (a well-known Jewish banking family), which owns the central banks in 165 nations, controls the money flow in most of the world, but hides its gruesome lust for power behind a mask of benevolence.”
Mr Albeck alleged the report contained comments that undermined the justice system, including that “lawyers need to start prosecuting those who are complicit, even though ‘most of the justice system is corrupt’”.
The report directed readers to a website titled Stop World Control which Mr Albeck claims contained further “conspiratorial and anti-Semitic material” including:
● A report that Jewish lawyer Richard Rothschild developed a system to secretly collect biometric data from the public and send it to the cloud where it is connected to artificial intelligence.
● A video asserting that a “notorious anti-Semitic book” – Protocols of the Elders of Zion – alleging an international Jewish conspiracy to achieve world domination is true.
● A report that Jewish former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger advised the US government how to steal resources from Africa and execute population control.
Mr Albeck reported Mr Stipanicev’s email to Dentons in December last year, after he had resigned, as an “eligible whistleblower”.
The firm appointed dispute resolution silk Wayne Muddle SC to investigate on December 8, the statement of claim says. However, Mr Muddle was told to cease his investigation on May 8. “In emails exchanged on May 23, Dentons’ lawyers advised the applicant that Mr Muddle’s investigation had been suspended due to a ‘potential conflict’ but … refused to provide any details,” the documents say.
“Dentons did not tell Mr Muddle the reason for the termination was a potential conflict, but told him something quite different.”
Mr Albeck, in the statement of claim, argues he should be entitled to make a public-interest disclosure under the Corporations Act in relation to Mr Stipanicev’s email, because “members of the Dentons Global Board may wish to consider whether Stipanicev should continue to sit on that board”.
He also says that, as a result of the email, clients of Dentons might want to reconsider working with the firm, and Dentons employees, “particularly Jewish ones”, may “wish to consider whether they wish to continue working with the firm”.
Stepping aside
A Dentons spokesman said a former employee had complained that “Mr Stipanicev emailed an anti-vaccine report to him containing objectionable material, following a discussion between the two of them at a social function”.
“The report was not sent on behalf of Dentons. The contents of, and views expressed in that report, do not reflect Dentons’ views or values,” the spokesman said.
“We followed all federal and state government issued mandates and health guidance during the pandemic.”
Dentons has appointed an independent investigator to probe the matter, the spokesman said, and Mr Stipanicev has “decided to stand aside from his roles as Australian chair and Australasian CEO until the investigation is concluded”.
“He will continue to perform his role as a partner of Dentons Australia,” the spokesman said.
The matter is due for case management on Thursday.
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