A former NSW public servant who was offered a job as trade commissioner in New York before allegedly being sidelined in favour of John Barilaro is suing the former deputy premier, former minister Stuart Ayres, and her former boss for misuse of power.
Jennifer West accuses Barilaro, former trade minister Ayres and former secretary of the Enterprise, Industry and Trade Department Amy Brown of misfeasance in public office. She also claims her contract with the NSW government was breached when her employment was terminated shortly after the New York job offer was withdrawn.
West, a former NSW deputy secretary for trade and international investment, alleges each of the three breached their obligations as public office holders by taking actions “pursuant to a public power which should have been exercised for a public purpose”.
She also named the state of NSW as a fourth defendant, claiming “the state is vicariously liable for the acts and omissions of Brown, Ayres and Barilaro”.
A statement of claim filed with the NSW Supreme Court on Monday alleges the way West’s appointment as senior trade and investment commissioner to the Americas was withdrawn — and the way her public service job was terminated — was “insulting and humiliating”.
“The actions undertaken by Brown, Ayres and Barilaro were undertaken knowing that the consequence would be that West would suffer reputational and economic damage, and each of them acted despite knowing the consequence of their actions,” West alleges.
She calls for compensatory, aggravated and exemplary damages.
The circumstances surrounding Barilaro’s appointment to the US job was the subject of a long-running NSW parliamentary inquiry, which found it had “all the trademarks of a ‘job for the boys’ position”. The final report also said Investment NSW’s treatment of West was “unfair, unprofessional, and sends a terrible message to others applying for these types of roles in the future”.
However, an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation into the matter found no evidence of corruption, the watchdog said earlier in the week.
Barilaro and West denied wrongdoing in relation to the recruitment when they appeared before the parliamentary inquiry, and Ayres has denied wrongdoing in a statement released after he was cleared of breaching the ministerial code of conduct by an independent review. All three were contacted for comment.
The NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet told Crikey that “representation will be considered in accordance with the standard policies and procedures that apply to legal proceedings against public officials”.
“It would be inappropriate to comment further while there are legal proceedings before the court.”
The first court hearing has been set for April 27.
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