Legal move by editor sacked after ‘anti-trans’ letter

A newspaper editor and former Liberal adviser sacked after publishing a letter attacked as “anti-transgender” is pursuing legal action, alleging harmful conduct by Australian Community Media.

Mark Westfield, former editor of The Examiner. Picture: Braden Fastier

A newspaper editor and former Liberal adviser sacked after publishing a letter attacked as “anti-transgender” is pursuing legal action, alleging harmful conduct by Australian Community Media.

Mark Westfield was dismissed as editor of The Launceston Examiner newspaper on March 15 after he conceded a letter he published alleging a transwoman had undressed in front of young girls in a women’s changing room may have been bogus.

The Australian understands that Westfield, a former staffer to Malcolm Turnbull and Liberal candidate Katherine Deves, has since applied to the Fair Work Commission to pursue ACM for an “adverse action”.

Westfield and ACM would not comment but it is understood Westfield will seek redress under the Fair Work Act’s “general protections”, which defend people against harmful actions, including misrepresentation, by employers.

It is understood Westfield is unable to access unfair dismissal provisions because he was appointed editor of Tasmania’s second highest circulation daily only in January, making his tenure short of a legislated minimum.

Workers can take adverse action cases if they have been dismissed for reasons deemed by the FWC to be prohibited.

On March 23, The Examiner ran a front-page apology saying the letter of March 7 was published “without any verification of the assertions it presented as facts”.

The apology also said the headline placed above the offending letter - “Girls getting changed, then in walks a man” - was “hurtful and incorrect”.

The newspaper’s March 23 apology also criticised a clarification issued by Westfield on March 8 that said the paper “appeared” to have been “misled” and had subsequently developed “concerns that the letter contained incorrect information”.

It is understood Westfield, who worked at The Australian from 1993 to 2003, will argue he was harmed by his treatment and dismissal and has suffered significant professional damage as a result.