Widow Gets AU$367,000 Payout After Husband Was Sacked by SMS
The family of a union recruiter who was allegedly sacked by SMS has been awarded AU$367,000 in compensation after he then committed suicide. The Electrical Trades Union sent Tony Cecere a text message telling him to return his work car and mobile phone. Cecere fell into depression and committed suicide the next day. The familiy had been expecting a payout of around AU$300,00
The judge accepted psychiatric evidence the SMS triggered a depressive episode leading to Mr Cecere's suicide.
Mr Cecere was employed by the union in Sept 2004, and had suffered from depression - which was made worse as he was not meeting recruitment sales targets for the union. He was dismissed the following March when ETU assistant secretary Alexander McCallum sent an SMS to Mr Cecere saying his contract had been terminated.
The union had argued that the job had been for a fixed period and that the dismissal had been legal. In an internal newsletter, ETU state secretary Dean Mighell denied that Mr Cecere had been sacked by SMS, saying that "Tony had already been informed that his contract had ended and the text message was simply a reminder to him to return a car and mobile phone,"
Last year, following the suicide of a Telstra employee, Sally Sandic - reportedly due to stress from higher sales targets - the same union ran an aggressive media campaign against the company.
Posted to the site on 19th June 2008
