Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
A former County Court judge has voluntarily stood aside from a hearing she was presiding over after she neglected to turn off a Zoom recording that captured her discussing the case with a visiting judge.
Judge Pamela Jenkins, a member of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for more than a decade, was recorded in April telling Japanese judge Chihiro Morita, who was observing Melbourne courts as part of a research program: “Right, we are alone.”
Judge Pamela Jenkins, pictured in 2015.Credit: Josh Robenstone
In the recording, which was tendered to the Tribunal and reviewed by this masthead, Jenkins went on to describe the approach of the plaintiff as being “completely unrealistic”, which the plaintiff’s lawyers later claimed showed the judge had made findings in the case before its conclusion.
The judge’s comments were recorded at the end of a directions hearing for a discrimination case brought by former bank worker Katherine Bashour against the ANZ bank.
After the other parties left the Zoom meeting, Jenkins asked Morita to stay on to discuss “some other thing unrelated”, before describing the case in detail to the visiting judge.
This included an allegation Bashour had sought to have evidence withdrawn from proceedings because it was “triggering”.
“Her psychologist called it a triggering event,” Jenkins said.
“So she’s now having flashbacks and traumatic stress and has asked for that report to be taken out of the – to be removed from the tribunal file, it’s completely outrageous, to which I said no. The ANZ is not going to be forced to not rely upon evidence that is relevant for them … [and] the tribunal is not going to be dictated to by some psychologist.”
The judge went on: “Unfortunately, I think the applicant is being completely unrealistic.”
Jenkins – who retired as a County Court judge in 2017 – added: “She’s saying because of the state that she’s in, she wants all of these conditions attached to the way the hearing is to be conducted.
“One of the conditions – we didn’t get to it – was she doesn’t like certain things that one of the solicitors has said, so she didn’t want that solicitor … one of the solicitors for the ANZ … she didn’t want to have to see him.”
At this point, Jenkins laughed. “I’m sorry; he’s a solicitor for the ANZ, I’m not going to exclude him.”
In another section of the recording, Jenkins joked she “really didn’t want to have an in-person hearing” for the case because it would require her to travel into the city every day.
“I haven’t done that for years, it just wastes so much time,” she said.
Unbeknown to either judge, the Zoom recording had continued while they were on the line, and their lengthy exchange was captured in official audio recordings of the court. Bashour discovered the recording after requesting a copy of the audio of the April 6 hearings.
Jenkins stood aside from the case in May. This masthead approached VCAT multiple times to seek comment from Jenkins, but a VCAT spokesman declined to provide a response. Jenkins remains a senior member at VCAT.
Katherine Bashour appearing at the Federal Court in 2014 for hearing involving the ANZ bank.Credit: Paul Jeffers
Bashour’s long-running case against the ANZ is now proceeding with a new judge, VCAT vice-president Caitlin English, who will determine whether Bashour suffered discrimination while on maternity leave, and whether she resigned willingly or was forced to resign.
Bashour’s legal team have argued her mental health was further damaged by the discovery of the Jenkins audio. A letter sent by Bashour’s lawyers to the VCAT court registry in August said: “The circumstances leading to the order made by Judge Jenkins on 5 May 2023 that her honour stands aside from the further conduct of the proceedings has caused a significant deterioration to the health of the applicant. The applicant is still receiving treatment from her treating psychologist in relation to those events.”
Bashour launched legal action in 2014, seeking an urgent injunction to stop the bank firing her. She claimed the bank’s demands and threats were part of an effort to punish her for lodging discrimination complaints and separate court action against it.
Her long-running case against the ANZ rests on alleged discrimination under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities.
English listed the matter for trial, starting February 15. It will be the fifth time the matter has been listed for trial.
Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter here.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
