The school teacher partner of convicted baby killer Keli Lane has had a legal win against the North Shore Catholic school that sacked him after 27 years’ service.
Lane’s long-term partner, Patrick Cogan, was dismissed from St Pius X College Chatswood last year for not supplying the school with medical information, using his work email to conduct personal business and failing to notify the school about speaking to the media in relation to Lane.
Keli Lane was sentenced to 18 years prison after being found guilty in 2010 of murdering her two-day-old baby Tegan in Sydney in 1996 after giving birth at Auburn Hospital.
Cogan’s school is run by Edmund Rice Australia, which sent him a letter last October informing him that his dismissal, alleging dishonest communication and failure to follow directions regarding media engagement, including with 60 Minutes.
It also told Cogan he had failed to comply with a direction to not use his work email account for personal correspondence related to Lane. The school also alleged Cogan failed to follow a direction to provide sufficient medical information regarding his fitness for work when they requested it.
Fair Work Commission deputy president Tony Slevin earlier this year found the reasons given for the termination regarding media engagement and failing to provide medical information were not valid reasons for dismissal.
Slevin noted when it came to the use of the school email, it was a valid reason for dismissal but that Cogan’s explanation for its use was a mitigating factor, which favoured a finding that the dismissal was “harsh, unjust or unreasonable”.
The college also did not notify Cogan of the reasons for dismissal and provide him with an opportunity to respond, Slevin’s judgment said.
The Fair Work Commission ordered the school reinstate Cogan and give him backpay.
Edmund Rice Education subsequently sought to appeal the decision, arguing the judgment to reinstate Cogan contained significant errors of fact.
Among them was the original commissioner had “misconstrued” letters sent from the school to Cogan about his behaviour, and that his “devotion to his partner was a relevant factor” to be considered.
The full bench of the Fair Work Commission disagreed.
“We do not accept that Mr Cogan’s devotion to his partner and explanation for his breach of the email direction were not relevant matters for the Deputy President to take into account or that there is any reason to suggest that the Deputy President failed to consider the matters the College contended were relevant to the gravity of Mr Cogan’s conduct,” they said.
In its judgement published on Tuesday the bench found, “none of the alleged errors were foundational” to the conclusion that he be reinstated.
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