The former CEO of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has lost her legal battle for unpaid entitlements, with the Industrial Court finding she resigned because she was sick of her job.
Claire “Gil” Beckwith took Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to the Industrial Court of NSW last year over claims she wasn’t paid $21,000 in long-service leave when she left the organisation in June 2025.
Beckwith joined Mardi Gras in November 2018 before being appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2022, and then later CEO in 2023.
She served in that role until her resignation in 2025.
Beckwith claimed that she ended her employment with Mardi Gras due to illness and was therefore entitled to be paid out her long-service leave.
Under the Long Service Leave Act 1955 (NSW), employees who have served between five and ten years can access long-service leave if they resign due to illness or incapacity.
According to the judgment, Beckwith saw a doctor on 11 March 2025 as she had been feeling unwell and had decided around that time to resign.
The doctor noted a rash on her flank, with a query over whether it was a recurrence of shingles, and a swab was taken for testing.
However, on cross-examination, Beckwith said she did not follow up with the doctor, and the result turned out to be normal.
Three days after her appointment, she attended a meeting with the then co-chairs, where the board offered her a 12-month extension to her contract, which was due to expire in June.
Co-chair Kathy Pavlich told the court that Beckwith replied to the offer with words to the effect of: “Being CEO is a lot of hard work and I don’t think I want to do it for another year. I have decided to leave.”
Pavlich, who was in the meeting, told the court Beckwith did not mention any illness at that time.
Acting Deputy President Kite found there was insufficient evidence that Beckwith resigned due to illness, noting there was little independent medical evidence before the court.
“The notes and medical certificates do little more than record what Ms Beckwith reported to the doctors and consultant,” he wrote.
“However, there is no diagnosis of an ‘illness’ made by the doctors or the consultant.”
Kite accepted that Beckwith was employed in a demanding role in which she may have felt stress from time to time.
“Equally one may readily accept that fatigue may be a factor which could cause an employee to consider whether the challenges of the job are no longer balanced by the rewards it brings,” he wrote.
“Put in the vernacular, whether the employee continues to derive the requisite job satisfaction.”
The court dismissed Beckwith’s application, finding she was not entitled to long-service leave.
The parties will be given a further opportunity to be heard on costs.
