JUST IN: Warrnambool City Council sacked CEO Peter Schneider has successfully stopped the WCC from hiring a replacement until a judgment is handed down in his Supreme Court challenge.

The Supreme Court hopes to hand down its decision by 1 June 2021, with the hearing scheduled for March 23 and 24.

Mr Schneider had applied for an injunction in the Supreme Court to stop the council going ahead with hiring a new CEO.

The injunction hearing was held in the Melbourne Supreme Court this morning before the Honourable Justice Michael McDonald.

The injunction application was dismissed, however, when the WCC agreed to suspend the hiring process.

It was revealed during the hearing that the WCC was due to meet next Monday, March 15, to make a decision on the new CEO.

Justice McDonald today expressed his concern several times about the recruitment process underway, saying it didn’t “sit very well with the administration of justice”, given Mr Schneider’s case is yet to be heard.

Justice McDonald also raised concerns several times about whether applicants for the CEO job had been told about Mr Schneider’s court action.

Justice McDonald said he doubted any applicant who was “fully appraised” of the situation would be likely to “relocate their family from interstate, resigning from their job or whatever, if Peter Schneider could walk back in the door and take up his position”.

“I can’t understand why anyone properly advised would do so,” he said.

Today’s hearing gave some fascinating insights into what we can expect from the full hearing.

One was that Mr Schneider, if successful, is seeking to be reinstated immediately or, as it was put today, “walk back into the door to take up his position”.

Based on what was said in the hearing today, this is entirely possible.

Justice McDonald indicated that the nub of the argument was whether the council was legally able to sack Mr Schneider for “no reason or any reason”, or whether this part of his contract is over-ridden by the Local Govt Act which says all employees must be treated fairly.

The March 23-24 hearing will also examine whether Mr Schneider, as a CEO, had protections under the council’s Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA).

From the arguments put forward by lawyers for both sides this morning, Mr Schneider’s court action is shaping up as a test case on just how far a “no reason or any reason” clause can stretch.

It has also exposed the decision by four of the seven former city councillors to dump Mr Schneider is not as cut and dried as they hoped it would be.

Exclusive Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Dumped Warrnambool City Council CEO Peter Schneider is seeking an injunction to stop the council from hiring a new chief until his Supreme Court challenge against his sacking is decided.

In a story that has more twists and turns than a back road to Halls Gap,  there are now not one, but two court actions in response to Mr Schneider being unceremoniously dumped by the former council last July.

As Jim Burke wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday night, the new council closed a portion of last night’s (1/3) meeting to the public so it could discuss where things were up to with hiring a new CEO.

The job was advertised in January, applications closed 15 February, and a short list of candidates has been drawn up.

But tonight I can reveal Mr Schneider is seeking a legal intervention to put the brakes on, blowing away rumours swirling through the ornamental pear trees in Liebig St that he may have been negotiating with the council to sort out a settlement.

Uh uh. There is no talk of a settlement: Mr Schneider wants his job back and he is fighting tooth and nail.

Documents lodged with the Supreme Court show Mr Schneider’s legal team served a summons on the WCC on 19 February, demanding it appear before the court at 10.30am yesterday, 1 March: just hours before the new council was due to meet and discuss the latest on his replacement.

The council’s lawyers, however, have pushed the date of the hearing to 12 March.

Oh Lordy, what a mess.

If Mr Schneider is successful in his injunction, the council will have to wait until the outcome of the judicial review into his sacking, set down for 23 March.

That hearing was supposed to be on 1 February, but was deferred by the court.

The WCC has said it had no choice but to press on with recruiting a new CEO and was obliged by law to do so but, like so many things that are “law”, this is obviously open to interpretation.

If it wasn’t, Mr Schneider’s lawyers would not be bothering with an injunction. Acting CEO Vikki King would also not be in place for up to 12 months.

At the same time, there are also varying opinions around whether Mr Schneider’s judicial review – if successful – will see him automatically get his job back.

Some say yes, some say it will be up to the council.

One thing, however, is now certain: Mr Schneider will be asking the judge to ensure that, if he is successful, the council is ordered to give his job back.

Meanwhile, somewhere off stage right, there are a bunch of short-listed candidates who are now no longer sure if there is even a job open to apply for.

Depending on what happens on 12 March, the whole recruitment process could be stalled.

And depending on what happens on 23 March, the old CEO could become the new CEO again.

I will say it again, Oh Lordy, what a mess this new council has inherited.

I will make contact with the WCC tomorrow to see what, if any, response there is from the Acting CEO to this latest chapter.

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Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Will it be a new face, or an old face? The Warrnambool City Council recruitment of a new CEO has officially begun.

The  job advert has gone out, just four days before a Supreme Court hearing which will decide whether the former CEO, Peter Schneider, could get his old job back.

The advert was posted online yesterday by top local government recruitment firm, McArthur, with applications closing on 15 February.

On Monday, however, the judicial review into Mr Schneider’s sacking begins and will sort out one way or the other whether he was denied natural justice when he was dumped by the former council in July last year.

If the judge rules in Mr Schneider ‘s favour, then the new council will have to decide whether they will rehire him.

No witnesses will be called for Monday’s hearing, with a judge instead deciding the case on the written evidence and affidavits put before them.

We can only hope the judgment is made quickly, for the sake of Mr Schneider, the new councillors who inherited this mess, and the good people of Warrnambool, all of whom have been sitting in the equivalent of a Jetstar flight circling over and over the airport, unable to land because of turbulence.

I asked the council spokesman and Mayor Vicki Jellie today how the council could start advertising for a new CEO, when the former CEO is still yet to learn his fate?

The response was that, under the Local Government Act, the WCC is legally bound to get things moving and must “…make a permanent appointment to the position of Chief Executive Officer as soon as practicable after a vacancy in the position occurs”.

“Given the then impending elections, and the intervening caretaker period, an earlier appointment was not a feasible option,” the statement said.

But, the statement added, ” the appointment of a CEO is a priority for the new councillors”.

I bet it is.

The whole process from here will be overseen by the council’s  CEO Employment Matters Committee, which will also have all new faces at the table, including Mayor Jellie, two councillors and an independent chair.

This chair is being recruited as we speak and will be in place after the 1 March council meeting.

Monday also marks the first council meeting for 2021 and, I feel, when the real work begins for this new council.

They have a lot to clean up: appointing a chief who can finally land that plane, get us all through customs, and get Warrnambool out into the fresh air is the first of them.

Only then can our city move on.