Law Firm Faces $766K Lawsuit Over Work Culture

An Australian law firm is facing a legal claim of nearly $800,000 after a former employee accused it of workplace discrimination, harassment and pushing her beyond reasonable limits with excessive work demands. The claim states that while the firm acknowledged issues related to stress and staff behaviour, it failed to implement meaningful changes, which led to long-term harm for the employee.

The employee, who worked in the client services team, says the problems began after a serious mental health incident affected the group in 2019. This incident reportedly sparked wider scrutiny of the team’s culture and uncovered troubling behaviour and treatment of staff. The firm denies that a formal investigation took place and says it was simply conducting development sessions to strengthen team collaboration.

The former worker claims she was given excessive workloads without extra support or compensation, even after she formally disclosed a disability. She also alleges bullying, including hostile emails written in aggressive formats like bold and capital letters, as well as exclusion from workplace social activities after she raised concerns. Her performance, workload and conflicts with colleagues reportedly escalated before she resigned in 2022 and submitted a workers’ compensation claim.

The case raises continuing concerns about employee wellbeing in professional services, especially in relation to neurodiversity, mental health and fair distribution of tasks. The former staff member is seeking more than $750,000 in damages, which include lost income, medical expenses and other non-financial impacts. The law firm denies all allegations and says it acted properly at all times.

Source: Australian Financial Review, Dentons, Littler