CommVault Australia, former MD settle dismissal case

Storage management software vendor CommVault today settled a wrongful dismissal case with its former managing director, Dominic Corrigan.

Corrigan claimed that he was unfairly sacked for criticising a senior director’s behaviour in the case that was to be heard in the Federal Court this week.

Corrigan’s legal counsel James Pearce told the court the matter was privately settled on Friday.

A deed of settlement was expected to be submitted soon but terms would not be disclosed.

Justice Geoffrey Alan Flick questioned if the public would benefit from knowing the penalties imposed on CommVault, since the case pertained to protecting how employees exercised their workplace rights under the Fair Work Act (2009).

But Pearce argued that settlement details could be kept under wraps since no public sector organisation was involved.

Corrigan was CommVault’s managing director of Australia and New Zealand from March 1 to May 27 last year.

He was sacked by vice president and regional managing director for Asia-Pacific and Japan Gerry Sillars five days before the end of his three-month probation.

In a detailed statement of claim to the Federal Court last August, Corrigan recounted discussing Sillars’ behaviour with three CommVault directors before he was fired.

He alleged that there was a "culture of excessive consumption of alcohol within [CommVault]” usually at “long lunches” that were “receipted to the group”.

Dell declined to comment on Corrigan's allegations that its Australian enterprise team had “instructed their sales teams not to work with [CommVault] on any opportunities based on Gerry’s [Sillars] behaviour”.

Corrigan sought to be reinstated at CommVault and back-paid his ordinary annual salary of $200,000 gross plus superannuation bonuses.

Corrigan's LinkedIn profile showed he was CEO of charity Fighting Chance.