Former Herald Sun editor-in-chief Bruce Guthrie has launched a $2.8million unfair dismissal claim against the Australian newspaper's publisher, News Limited. In a writ filed on Monday in the Victorian Supreme Court, Guthrie claimed that the company's decision to terminate his employment last month was "capricious, unfair and unreasonable" and a breach of contract, the Australian reported.
Guthrie, a former editor of the Age in Melbourne, was paid out the final year of his three-year contract. He is suing for estimated earnings he stood to gain had be been appointed for a further three years. News Limited, publisher of the Australian, will defend the claim. Guthrie is one of four editors of metropolitan daily newspapers to have lost their jobs since March.
The Australian report said: [Link]
Guthrie detailed separate conversations he claims to have had with News Limited chairman and chief executive John Hartigan and Herald and Weekly Times managing director Peter Blunden on November 10, the day he was told he would be replaced as editor-in-chief. Guthrie claims Hartigan cited a personality clash with Blunden as the principal reason for his removal, telling him: "I can't have a situation at the Herald Sun, one of our most important papers, where the managing director and editor-in-chief are not getting on."
The Age had more details: [Link]
News Ltd chairman and CEO John Hartigan allegedly told Guthrie he was being sacked because he could not get on with the man to whom he reported, Peter Blunden, managing director of the Herald and Weekly Times.
Hartigan allegedly said: "I can't have a situation at the Herald Sun, one of our most important papers, where the managing director and the editor-in-chief are not getting on … Peter (Blunden) has told me he has had to pull you up most weeks over the paper."
Guthrie protested, "hand on my heart", that this was not true. He also said it could not happen at a worse time: he and his family had moved from Sydney to Melbourne for the job, had bought a house here and were struggling to sell their Sydney home in a difficult market.
According to Guthrie, Hartigan grimaced and said: "We are prepared to be generous because we have given you a real shit sandwich. When you add everything up, I think it comes to $1.3 million. And you will get a look at the press release." The statement says Blunden rang Guthrie seven hours after the sacking and denied being part of it — "I am not driving this. This is not me."
Guthrie claims Blunden sounded agitated when he said: "It's complicated and it's confidential. I can't go into it too deeply. But essentially a third party got involved. That person said something to someone … and it went from there."
The writ says Hartigan offered to find Guthrie another job in Sydney, either on The Australian or in News Ltd magazines, but Mr Guthrie refused to make another interstate move for family reasons. Hartigan reportedly asked Guthrie to apologise to his wife because "I know we asked a lot of the family".
[All currencies are in Australian dollars]
