I very much liked this photograph and used this picture as a metaphor for what I thought would be my own victory over the elements of evil that had descended on my working life. On discovering I had won my legal case against my employer by default; my employer had failed to respond to the court order - total incompetence on their behalf. I searched for a picture of the Japanese surrender on the deck of the Mighty Mo pinning it above my desk - now this became a talking point. Yeah, I was beginning to enjoy this victory.
I went into work on the Monday and served them with the papers to appear in court on Thursday; not a lot of time to prepare but they didn't need time to prepare as this was merely a verdict. They just had to be in attendance to hear the magistrate's verdict - that's all. They relinquished the opportunity to argue their case in front of the magistrate when they treated the court with contempt by failing to comply with the court order by ignoring the order to respond - ironically, they still haven't responded to the court.
Naturally I produced evidence where I had contacted my former manager a week before the deadline urging them to not forget to respond to the court. At a subsequent meeting with three directors, I found my former manager had forwarded the email to the divisional director but had not responded to me. Once again I had been ignored but I had evidence that the correspondence had been forwarded to the respective personnel. I also had email correspondence with the HR director sending him a copy of the response form, he claimed the forms were not included in my mail. This was untrue but I provided them with the forms to comply with the court order.
Regardless, I supplied them with an electronic copy of the response form and an affidavit so they had no excuses. I had even given them extra time as I had requested the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission allow them longer to respond. As they had 21 calendar days to respond and I had sent the mail on a Friday evening, I asked the first weekend to not be counted and I granted them an additional five working days for any postage delays and internal mail issues. I was being more than generous but I wanted no excuses.
When I contacted the court by phone after eleven days after the deadline had passed, I wanted to know my if employer had accepted some of the points of the claim as my submission had seven differing points, I wanted to know if they wholly denied the claim, accepted part of the claim or wholly admitted to the claim and consented to the court making orders sought in the claim. I was astounded to be informed that my employer had not replied to the court order and I now could apply for a default verdict. Naturally, I said yes and I was sent the forms necessary application forms.
I took the laminated photograph of the unconditional surrender to the Industrial Magistrate's Court for the verdict explaining to the representatives from my employer "this is what an unconditional surrender looks like". Ok, so I was gloating and being less than respectful to the losers. As these people had attempted to damage my career to benefit themselves - I cared little. Ironically, this court appearance was my final day of work in 2016 so I decided to head back to the office after the case to savour my victory with my colleagues. Some were happy for me - others not.
We now had a workplace where a government establishment was being run like a private company that benefited the few and was to the detriment of the many. Obviously the ones that were not happy about my victory formed the membership of the crony club and their immediate future as teflon coated elites is now uncertain. The individuals that had reaped the rewards of everybody's hard work are noticeably concerned - their free ride is over. Well, so I thought, the State Solicitor was contacted the day before and sought an injunction in court, whilst they tried to get the matter dismissed, that wasn't allowed but my default judgement was also thrown into disarray.
We were on the cusp on entering an era where a self-elected bunch of people were allowed to run roughshod over the whole strategic portfolio had come to an end. An uprising had taken place and they were now the vanquished, this cronyism was to be dismantled. Among the list of claims was workplace bullying, I could now not only remove the knives from my back; but we could inspect those very knives for fingerprints and DNA during the formal bullying investigation.
The following day I headed over to Bali for my end of year break so this was the final chance I would have in 2016 to enjoy my victory. Yes, I thought 2017 was going to be a totally different year for everyone at my workplace - that I can now no longer guarantee.
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