Two excluded from Victorian HSU election
Two nominees in the Victorian Health Services Union election have been excluded from the ballot because they couldn't prove their employment or membership.
The Federal Court has ruled that former HSU Victoria No.1 branch assistant secretary Jamie Martorana and former branch organiser Jayne Govan, who were running under the "Jamie Martorana Team", are not eligible to contest the election for that branch of the union.
Their nominations were challenged in court by Mr Martorana's opponent and now head of the Victorian No.1 branch Diana Asmar, who argued that Mr Martorana wasn't employed in the industry and Ms Govan's union membership was void because she hadn't paid fees since August last year.
Mr Martorana lost his home and nearly his life in the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires and was traumatised as a result, a hearing of the matter was told.
He took sick leave afterwards but remained employed with the HSU until October 2010, when he resigned following a confidential agreement.
As settlement, he received compensation of $240,000 paid in weekly instalments over two years but couldn't return to work due to a medical condition associated with the bushfire and other stressors, the hearing was told.
Mr Martorana told the hearing last week he had only recently felt able to re-enter the workforce but had not applied for other roles because he was focused on the HSU election.
But Justice Michelle Gordon on Tuesday found he shouldn't have been eligible to nominate for election at all, and said there was lack of evidence about how his traumatic experience and associated condition had affected his ability to return to work.
"Mr Martorana was not eligible to stand for positions of branch secretary and national council delegate because he was not and is not a member of the HSU," she said in her judgment.
The judge also found Ms Govan's nomination was void because she was not a member of the union due to unpaid membership fees.
The election will still go ahead at a date to be set, and the team previously led by Mr Martorana will have an opportunity to enter new candidates in the roles left empty by the pair.
