Judge hit with second lawsuit by defendant over ‘abuse of power’

A Queensland tour operator who claims he was wrongfully jailed for contempt of court has become the second person to sue judge Salvatore Vasta after he was allegedly denied procedural fairness.

Federal Circuit Court judge Salvatore Vasta.

A tour operator who claims he was wrongfully jailed for contempt of court has become the second person to sue Federal Circuit Court judge Salvatore Vasta after he allegedly abused his power by conducting the man’s trial in a manner so “egregious” it amounted to a denial of procedural fairness.

Leigh Jorgensen, the owner-operator of Cairns-based Trek North Tours, had been pursued by the Fair Work Ombudsman for transferring company funds into a trust account instead of paying fines and compensating his workers for underpayment in breach of a freezing order.

Mr Jorgensen spent one night behind bars in May 2018 after Justice Vasta sentenced the tour operator to 12 months’ imprisonment and fined him $85,000. He was released from jail after the Full Court of the Federal Court set his conviction for contempt aside.

In rare proceedings brought against a sitting judge, Mr Jorgensen is now suing Justice Vasta, the State of Queensland and the Commonwealth of Australia for false imprisonment and is seeking damages, including aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as interest and costs.

It’s not the first time Justice Vasta has been personally sued. In December, a father of two launched legal proceedings against the judge over allegations he was wrongly jailed for contempt in 2018 following a property dispute with his former wife.

The man, who cannot be named under the Family Law Act, is claiming $2m in damages after he was attacked while in custody, including when he woke up to his cellmate strangling him.

In a scathing judgment in July 2019, justices Andrew Greenwood, John Reeves and Michael Wigney found that Justice Vasta’s “excessive and unwarranted interventions” during Mr Jorgensen’s 2018 trial had denied the tour operator procedural fairness.

“Not only did his Honour conduct much of the cross-examination, he also appeared openly hostile to Mr Jorgensen, was at times disparaging and sarcastic, commented on the evidence while it was being given and … made ‘obvious to all his profound disbelief in the defence being advanced’,” the three said.

In a statement of claim, Mr Jorgensen’s lawyers say he suffered “mental harm”, “loss of liberty”, and “hurt to feelings” as a result of Justice Vasta’s abuse of power and his “outrageous” or “high-handed” conduct. They say Justice Vasta was “rude and offensive”, openly “derided” the tour operator’s evidence and left him “humiliated”.

At one point during the trial, Mr Jorgensen was threatened with fresh contempt charges if he did not answer Justice Vasta’s questions. When Mr Jorgensen didn’t understand, Justice Vasta said, “what, am I talking Swahili?” He also asked Mr Jorgensen if he would “razzle dazzle us like Billy Flynn in Chicago” and “have the big bamboozler right at the end”.

Court documents say Justice Vasta’s interventions represented an “egregious departure from the role of judge” and “compromised” his capacity to objectively evaluate the evidence. While judges cannot ordinarily be sued for the decisions they make, Mr Jorgensen argues Judge Vasta departed from procedure by making orders he lacked the power to make.

In 2019, the Family Court labelled Justice Vasta’s decision to jail a ­father of two for contempt in family law proceedings as an “affront to justice”.

Justice Vasta told the man, ­involved in a property dispute with his former wife, to “bring your toothbrush” after he allegedly failed to hand over financial records.

Judge Vasta is yet to file a defence to the proceedings.