Cricket Australia accused of sacking female employee over abortion-rights tweets

What's the story

With the "sandpapergate" scandal and all the related intricacies just beginning to die down, Cricket Australia (CA) has seemingly landed themselves in another fix as a former employee of the institution has now alleged that she was sacked for participating in the campaign for improved abortion rights in Tasmania. Since then, she has also taken to the social media to criticise the state Liberal government on their policies regarding the issue.

The details

The former employee, named Angela Williamson and aged 39, was allegedly sacked from her job as Manager of public policy and government relations at Cricket Australia following a tweet in which she labelled the government "gutless" for failing to ensure women had access to reproductive health services in the state. Her court case regarding the issue is being advocated by lawyer Kamal Farouque of Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, a law firm based in Melbourne, Australia.

According to him, she was sacked on June 29, 2018, and the tweet allegedly responsible for the event was tweeted out on 14th June.

“We’re alleging that she was terminated because of her political opinions, which she expressed in that tweet and other tweets,” Farouque said while speaking to The Guardian, Australia on June 29, Sunday.

“The Fair Work Act says you can’t be sacked for your political opinion. That’s what Angela did, she expressed her political opinion in her tweet, and then she subsequently found herself being sacked from her job at Cricket Australia. It seems extraordinary that someone would be sacked from their job in those circumstances. Her job had nothing to do with the public debate around access to reproductive health services in Tasmania," he added.

Farouque observed that Angela's involvement in the abortion-rights issue stemmed from her personal experiences regarding the same, as she had been asked to fly to Melbourne to file for abortion as Tasmania's last provider on related services closed down due to new state rulings. It was after the ordeal that she reportedly ridiculed the government.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has confirmed that it had ended Williamson’s contract in late June, via a statement released on Monday, July 30. “The circumstances surrounding that decision are now the subject of legal proceedings and it would be inappropriate for Cricket Australia to publicly comment on Ms. Williamson’s specific circumstances any further,” it said.

In case you didn't know...

Abortion was decriminalized in Tasmania in 2013, but elective surgical and medical abortions remain unavailable through the state’s public health system, and Tasmania’s last dedicated surgical abortion clinic recently closed, forcing women to travel to places like Melbourne to seek expert help regarding the issue.

The incumbent Tasmanian Liberal government is offering financial assistance to women who travel to the mainland to have a surgical abortion but has ruled out funding elective abortions through the public system.

Tasmania remains the only state in Australia to have a backward approach in the issue, and Angela is just one of the many women who report the issue over public platforms on a daily basis.

What's next

“We will continue to follow and respect the current process," Cricket Australia added in its statement while asserting that the organization will respect every individual's right to opinion, while at the same time keeping a check on whether the right will be used as cover to comment offensively against the organization's policies.

An initial hearing is listed at the Fair Work Commission for 17 August. More details will follow later.