An Australian space company that has worked with NASA and received millions of dollars in government funding is alleging fraud and deceptive conduct by its former boss, who is suing the company for unfair dismissal.
Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) announced today it had filed a counterclaim against former chief executive Carley Scott, months after she lodged a nearly $5 million lawsuit against the company.
The company was in the national spotlight earlier this year after its spaceport in the remote Northern Territory was used by NASA to fire three suborbital sounding rockets into space.
They were the first NASA launches on Australian soil in more than 25 years.
In its claim against Ms Scott, which was filed in the federal court and seen by the ABC, ELA alleges the 2021 Australia Day Honours recipient digitally altered contract documents to her own benefit.
"ELA has asserted that Ms Scott is engaged in a fraudulent misrepresentation," the company alleged.
The claim alleges Ms Scott removed key performance indicators and other elements from her original equity allocation "that would have prevented any future equity allocation."
ELA said it was "seeking orders from the court for declarations, compensation, and costs against Ms Scott".
New CEO hits back at racism, bullying claims
In her lawsuit filed against ELA earlier this year, Ms Scott also made allegations of bullying, racism and sexism against the company's current CEO, Michael Jones.
In court documents, she accused Mr Jones of making "belittling and discriminatory comments about women" and Territorians and "racist comments about Indigenous Australians".
The company's Arnhem Space Centre sits on Aboriginal-owned land in the remote NT.
Mr Jones said today, via a statement from a communications company, that on top of his company's counterclaim against Ms Scott, he was pursuing defamation action.
"The reprehensible, untrue, baseless and malicious bullying, sexism and racist claims by Ms Scott were provided as part of a much earlier Fair Work Commission claim by Ms Scott directly related to her dismissal for performance," Mr Jones said in the statement.
"These allegations were provided by Ms Scott without any supporting evidence, and … were completely denied and responded to in great detail by both ELA and myself."
Mr Jones said in the statement he had spent less than two days with Ms Scott in total and was alone with her only once, during an 18-minute car trip from Nhulunbuy airport to the spaceport.
He said he believed Ms Scott made the allegations "in the preamble to her claim simply to be released to the media to create leverage and intentionally damage my reputation".
When approached by the ABC for comment, a lawyer representing Ms Scott said she "rejects these outrageous claims, and will vigorously contest them through the court process".
Millions invested by NT government
Over the years since ELA first announced its plan to build a spaceport in Arnhem Land, the NT government has co-invested more than $5 million into the project.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said she would not comment on a matter before the courts when asked about Ms Scott's lawsuit in October.
"It remains a matter directly between ELA and the former ELA employee," she said.
The company has not detailed plans for any future rocket launches at the NT site but recently opened a head office in Adelaide.
NASA was contacted for comment, but did not respond by time of deadline.
