Tennis Australia moves to have David v Goliath battle with officials thrown out of court

Tennis Australia is attempting to have a David versus Goliath legal action brought by sidelined match officials thrown out, arguing they were casual employees and were not technically sacked.

Four directors of Tennis Officials Australia, a representative body for chair umpires and other tournament personnel, launched proceedings against Tennis Australia, claiming they had their registrations cancelled in October in retaliation for speaking up about alleged bullying and selection favouritism.

The sanction has left officials Karen Mak, Simon Cannavan, Catherine Caswell and Jim Goode unable to work at the Australian Open in January or at any other Tennis Australia-sanctioned event, from professional to local level.

The quartet claimed they had been unlawfully terminated for criticising Tennis Australia in a series of newsletters sent to members this year, and alleged it presided over a culture of fear in which officials were scared to rock the boat.

Tennis Australia has denied it acted improperly, arguing it stripped the four directors of their credentials because the contents of the newsletters had breached their terms and conditions for professional conduct and had a detrimental effect on the wellbeing of several of its employees and officials.

It is fighting all four general protections claims at the Fair Work Commission and is seeking to have two of them – filed by Tennis Officials Australia chair Mak and US-based umpire Cannavan – dismissed by the workplace tribunal because those officials hadn’t worked at a tournament since the last Australian tennis summer.

In a response to the application of Mak, a Melbourne barrister, Tennis Australia’s lawyers said she was engaged as a casual employee on an ad hoc basis, each shift was a standalone period of employment and her complaint had therefore not been submitted in time.

“The applicant’s last worked engagement was on 22 January 2025 and her employment ended on that date. This is more than 21 days from the date of the application,” Tennis Australia said.

“The application is out of time and should be dismissed.”

Tennis Australia also argued that the officials did not have their employment terminated but were “merely ineligible” to be offered shifts at tournaments because their registrations had been annulled.

The Australian Open organiser said it had not taken action against them as employees but as directors of Tennis Officials Australia, and they had not exercised workplace rights.

Tennis Australia intended to produce evidence from its employees, officials and other Tennis Officials Australia directors about the “extent and impact of the applicant’s unprofessional behaviour”, its lawyers said in its response to Mak’s complaint.

“That evidence will assist it to demonstrate the appalling way in which the applicant has behaved, and support its position that the substantial and operative reason for acting was the applicant’s unprofessional behaviour, and not the mere fact of the newsletters being sent or issues being raised,” they said.

Tennis Australia director of pathways and tennis services, Lawrence Robertson, wrote to match officials this month that the sport’s governing body had been cleared by a WorkSafe inspection and had acted against the four Tennis Officials Australia directors because “TA team members were receiving multiple emails a week from them and finding their behaviours threatening”.

“Everyone should feel comfortable to raise an issue or concern at any time without fear of retribution. However, when doing so, it’s important you act in a professional and respectful manner,” he said.

The Robertson email angered the ousted directors, who deny harassing or threatening Tennis Australia staff or other officials, and Mak days later fired off a defamation concerns notice, the first stage in defamation action, on their behalf.

The board members of Tennis Officials Australia have since informed members that they will be stepping down.

Tennis Officials Australia once controlled the appointments of match officials at Australian tournaments but for the past decade it had been a member-based advisory body to Tennis Australia, which took charge of officiating in 2015.

Relations broke down this year after it sought to address issues such as selection transparency and workplace safety concerns on behalf of tournament officials and Mak reported an “apparent unwillingness to engage with the board” from Tennis Australia.

The Tennis Officials Australia directors claimed in later newsletters that “multiple credible reports describe selection processes being effectively ‘rigged’” and accused Tennis Australia of “attempting to control member communications” and “coercive conduct toward TOA leadership”.

They also presented Tennis Australia with a 30-page report centred on allegations of bullying and victimisation against a tennis employee in Adelaide.

A subsequent Tennis Australia-commissioned investigation substantiated a finding that the employee had referred to South Australian match official Marija Lentic as “unstable” in conversation with other officials.

Lentic, who sits on a women in sport advocacy group and is a two-time state official of the year, had been working at the Australian Open in January when she was told about the comment and was so distressed she immediately left the grand slam event.

According to the investigator, while some of the behaviour could be seen as “insults” or “teasing”, Tennis Australia did not consider that it amounted to bullying and Lentic was selected to work alongside the employee at this summer’s Adelaide International and not at the Australian Open.

She has withdrawn from officiating at the Adelaide event.

Tennis Australia said in a statement to this masthead that it had gone to great lengths to ensure “complaints and issues are investigated fairly and thoroughly”.

“However, this year we have faced the unusual situation of a small group of umpires refusing to accept the umpires’ decisions,” its statement said.

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