The chief executive officer of a Bunbury training company has slammed a court decision which saw him ordered to pay close to $70,000 to three former employees - saying he hoped they "choke on the bloody money."
The Apprentice and Traineeship Company's Stan Liaros told the Bunbury Mail the claims made by the former employees against him were "vexatious". He also said he felt betrayed by the claimants, whom he had considered friends.
Seeking redundancy payouts, Glenn Edward Trigg, Adrian Troy Bestwick, and Gregory Paul Tomlinson launched legal action against Mr Liaros and the Apprentice and Traineeship Company – a division of Group Training South West (GTSW) – after GTSW failed to secure Commonwealth funding for the provision of apprenticeship and traineeship services in April 2015.
The employees' legal representative, Graham McCorry, said in a statement Mr Liaros gave the men notice they would not have jobs after the end of June 2015 due to the lack of funding available, but sacked them in May 2015.
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This was done in what Mr McCorry described in court as a "fit of pique" after the successful funding tenderer – and subsequent employer of the three claimants – declined to lease premises from Mr Liaros because his former employees were not prepared to work there.
Mr Liaros, who has headed the Apprentice and Traineeship Company for the past 16 years, described this claim as "rubbish" this week, despite Magistrate Giusseppe Cicchini finding in favour of the claimants.
The CEO said he had been devastated when his company failed to win the Commonwealth contract for funding, but had worked tirelessly to find alternative employment for his staff.
"They were assured of [employment] at least till June 30, but if they wanted to stick around to the end of their contracted periods they could stick around," Mr Liaros said.
He said rather than sacking the three men, he had secured them employment with another training provider.
Ultimately, every employee who stood to lose ongoing employment with Mr Liaros' company found alternative jobs, including the three men who took their former boss to court.
"I extolled the virtues of [the three men to prospective employers]," Mr Liaros said this week.
"On May 18 [2015] we had confirmed offers of employment for the three men."
But Mr Liaros' claim he had been pivotal in securing employment for the claimants was dismissed in court.
Mr Cicchini said in his judgment it was "nothing more than self-serving conjecture".
Late last month, the magistrate ruled in favour of the claimants.
Orders were made for the Apprentice and Traineeship Company to pay the men $69,042.98, and for the company and Mr Liaros to pay civil penalties of $30,600.
Mr Liaros, who said he had already made the court-ordered payments, said he felt betrayed.
"I'm bitter about it," he said.
"I looked after the three of them … and these are the guys that said 'up yours, Stan'."
"I'll get over it, but it hurt.
"I hope they choke on the bloody money."