the Applicant, in the matter of an election for offices of the Manufacturing Division of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (No 2)
Citation: [2021] FCA 859
What happened
An inquiry was ordered into alleged irregularities in election number E2020/114 for the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (Manufacturing Division). The alleged irregularities included that 83 members were incorrectly excluded from voting and some candidates were incorrectly prevented from standing. The inquiry related to the election of several divisional offices including Divisional Secretary. Arturo Menon was a candidate for Divisional Secretary who lost substantially to Michael O'Connor (542 votes to 1890 votes).
What was decided
The court ordered that the inquiry be terminated with respect to the election for Divisional Secretary of the Manufacturing Division. The court found that even if irregularities existed in the voting process, they could not have materially affected the result given the large margin of votes between candidates. The court retained the inquiry regarding the election of other divisional offices.
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This summary was drafted from the published decision and reviewed before publishing. It is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, speak to the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) or a qualified lawyer. About these summaries & corrections →