Summer Irvin says firm Twomey Dispute Lawyers fired her for falling pregnant
Summer Irvin has taken legal action against one of Australia’s fast-rising employment law firms, accusing it of targeting her for sharing ‘the facts’ of her dismissal with colleagues.
A young lawyer has accused one of Australia’s fast-rising employment law firms of firing her because she fell pregnant, and targeting her for sharing “the facts” of her dismissal with colleagues.
Summer Irvin has taken legal action in the Federal Court against Queensland-based Twomey Dispute Lawyers, alleging that legal director Benjamin Twomey abruptly left a meeting after she accused him of sacking her because she was pregnant.
She alleges he said: “I am not getting into it with you. Think what you like, but it has nothing to do with your pregnancy.”
The firm claims Ms Irvin’s redundancy was made after realising that other employees had capacity to “easily absorb” her “light workload”.
In court documents seen by The Australian, the firm also alleges Ms Irvin, who starred on Seven’s reality dating show First Dates, had “a negative impact on workplace culture” because she was “rude and disrespectful”, and was “too inexperienced to work without in-person supervision”.
“There were no other employees of (the firm) who could be made redundant without affecting the balance and productivity of the established teams at that time,” a defence filed by the firm reads.
Twomey Dispute Lawyers is one of Queensland’s fastest-accelerating commercial litigation and dispute resolution firms, expanding to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Byron Bay over the past few years.
The firm was this year recognised by Australasian Lawyer as one of the nation’s Top Specialist Firms.
Ms Irvin, in a statement of claim, alleges she informed the firm on October 9 that she was seven weeks’ pregnant.
She requested she be afforded flexible working arrangements to accommodate the “stress” she had been feeling, and to assist her in caring for her elderly father and young daughter.
She claims that she was invited to a meeting with Mr Twomey on October 23 where she was informed the firm had “made an operational decision to cut costs and was considering making her position redundant on the basis that the work could be done by less people”.
Ms Irvin was told she was entitled to a six-week notice period plus four weeks’ redundancy pay, according to court documents.
After becoming highly distressed and starting to cry, Ms Irvin told Mr Twomey she believed she was being dismissed because of her pregnancy, she claims.
According to Ms Irvin’s claim, Mr Twomey refused to provide details confirming why the redundancy was genuine, only “stating words to the effect of ‘I am not getting into it with you, think what you like but it has nothing to do with your pregnancy’.”
Once Ms Irvin threatened to challenge the redundancy, Mr Twomey “abruptly” ended the meeting and walked out of the room, she alleges.
On October 30, Ms Irvin received a letter from the firm accusing her of telling her colleagues she “was being fired because she was pregnant”, according to the court documents.
“Between 23 October, 2024, and 25 October, 2024, the applicant (Ms Irvin) sent messages to at least three ... current employees stating words to the effect of: (i) Less than 2 weeks ago I told work I was 7 weeks’ pregnant and yesterday I was made redundant with 4 weeks’ pay and basically walked out immediately ... just thought I would let you know the facts; and (ii) Last week I told them I was pregnant and today I was made redundant with 4 weeks’ pay,” the firm’s defence reads.
The firm alleges that Ms Irvin’s conduct damaged its reputation and “amounted to serious misconduct”.
Ms Irvin engaged legal counsel, who sent the firm a letter denying she “had done anything which posed any risk to the reputation” of the company.
In her claim, Ms Irvin says the firm made her redundant for reasons which included her pregnancy, her request for flexible work and her caring responsibilities for her father.
She estimates her financial losses – including medical bills for psychiatric injury and government-paid parental leave entitlements – to be about $230,000, and has requested the court order the firm to pay her compensation.
Twomey Dispute Lawyers claim Ms Irvin’s redundancy was legitimate and deny the allegations made by Ms Irvin.
Further, the firm claims that Ms Irvin’s work performance was unsatisfactory, and had demonstrated she was “unable to work collaboratively, in a team environment, as was expected of her” and “failed, refused or neglected to follow her employer’s lawful directions”.
“The applicant (Ms Irvin) was the most unproductive resource of the first respondent (the firm),” the defence reads.
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