It wasn’t me, says ex-Slaters employee

A former Slater + Gordon employee whose name appears in the metadata of a payroll spreadsheet sent in a company-wide email claims someone may have impersonated her, as dozens of staff face investigation for forwarding the email outside the law firm.

Slater + Gordon has been embroiled in an email scandal.

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A former Slater + Gordon employee whose name appears in the metadata of a payroll spreadsheet sent in a company-wide email claims someone may have impersonated her, as dozens of staff face investigation for forwarding the email outside the law firm.

The ex-staffer said it was “distressing” that people believed she was the author of an email sent last week and blind-copied to all Slaters staff, which made scathing criticisms of senior executives and attached a spreadsheet revealing the salaries of the firm’s 906 employees.

The former employee’s name appears in the metadata of a spreadsheet, but on Thursday she denied sending the email and said “there’s no way I would have sent an attachment that had my name as the author”.

“Maybe someone has created a profile on their own laptop and used my name to create that report, or if someone had manipulated the metadata, or someone is using my old profile … to do it,” the former employee, who The Australian has chosen not to name, said.

“There’s no way I would have put my name in there, I’m very proficient in Excel, I wouldn’t have done that.”

Slater + Gordon has called in police and forensic experts to investigate the origins of the email, purportedly sent by interim chief people officer Mari Ruiz-Matthyssen.

The firm confirmed she did not send it, and Ms Ruiz-Matthyssen says that “a cursory examination of the email and its attachment gave a clear indication as to the likely identity of the sender”.

Ms Ruiz-Matthyssen also reported the matter to police.

Sources allege Ms Ruiz-Matthyssen was responsible for dismissing the former employee whose name appears in the spreadsheet metadata in November. However, the former employee said her departure from the company was a mutual decision and is governed by a non-disclosure agreement. She said she had “two very brief” meetings with Ms Ruiz-Matthyssen during her time at Slater + Gordon, including one involving her leaving the firm.

“Whoever it is who has written (the email) has a lot of inside knowledge but is also aware of the terrible culture,” the former staff member said. “The fact someone has used our names (means) they obviously want to point a finger at us as well.”

She said neither Slater + Gordon nor the police had been in contact with her since the email was sent.

The Australian on Wednesday revealed Ms Ruiz-Matthyssen is expected to take legal action against the top-tier law firm after it allowed the crisis to escalate despite clear early indications the email had been ­manipulated.

Ms Ruiz-Matthyssen is understood to be upset that the firm made her “the sacrificial lamb” after failing to quickly and decisively state she was not ­involved.

The author of the email ­appeared to have inside information about private dinners at the home of chief executive Dina Tutungi, illnesses suffered by staff, rivalries between named ­individuals, investigations into cases of inappropriate conduct, planned redundancies, and even gossip about which board member “they will ditch this year”.

The Australian understands dozens of employees forwarded the email to external accounts after it arrived in their inboxes on Friday morning. Management has asked the employees to provide an explanation of why they did that, in a presumed attempt to track how the email appeared in the media by Friday afternoon.

A source within Slater + Gordon said senior management was attempting to “plough on” despite the consuming scandal, with Ms Tutungi expected to front “values” workshops across the firm’s NSW offices next week.

Meanwhile, the firm has begun contacting former and current staff named in the email and spreadsheet to discuss the extraordinary breach.

A Slater + Gordon spokesperson said “the matter has been referred to the police”.

“It would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics while the investigation is ongoing,” the spokesperson said. “Our staff are our highest priority.”