Adelaide executive Georgina Vasilevski recoups large lump of legal bill after wrongful sacking
10.05.2023
Agnes Gichuhi – The Advertiser
An exonerated former Renewal SA executive has recouped most of her expensive legal bill, after she was wrongfully sacked from her $300,000 public service position.
Georgina Vasilevski told a Parliamentary committee on Tuesday how an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation had destroyed her life.
In 2018, Ms Vasilevski, and former Renewal SA executive John Hanlon, were charged after four female public servants made serious allegations against them.
The charges, which included financial misconduct from a trip in November 2017, were later dismissed.
She later launched Supreme Court action seeking $1.2m in compensation, after she was made redundant from her $300,000 general manager position.
Ms Vasilevski told the Damage, Harm or Adverse Outcomes resulting from ICAC Investigations committee she had recouped 75 per cent of her almost $200,000 legal bill.
“I reached a settlement regarding that redundancy, which is confidential, but it did not compensate me for reputational damage, loss of future earnings or losing my exemplary 20-year career in the public service,” Ms Vasilevski said while giving evidence.
“I was on a $300,000 salary and now I consult and don’t even make a quarter of that amount, so financially, it had an impact.”
Ms Vasilevski also told of her distress as she was forced to wait a court trial, which ICAC eventually abandoned.
“I was very much isolated. I wasn’t able to speak to any colleagues. I wasn’t able to speak to anyone related that I had interacted with predominantly within Renewal SA,” she said
“I had a big team that reported to me. We had good working close relationships. There were other members who were impacted by this process that I couldn’t reach out to check on their wellbeing and their mental health.”
Ms Vasilevski said she wrote to the state’s former and current premiers asking for a formal acknowledgment of the outcome about three months ago.
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