A rogue email sent out on Friday left a law firm scrambling this weekend after it detailed supposed staff salaries, performance ratings, and even criticisms of key senior executives.
As reported by the Australian Financial Review, the email — which has since been referred to Victoria Police — is believed to have circulated late last week and BCC’ed hundreds of staff members at law firm Slater and Gordon.
It was purportedly sent by the firm’s outgoing chief people officer Mari Ruiz-Matthyssen and outlined some pretty wild claims. These include criticisms of chief executive Dina Tutungi and complaints about private equity firm Allegro Funds — which acquired the majority of shares of Slater and Gordon back in 2023 in a deal worth around $150 million — and its alleged plans to “gut the place”.
The law firm has involved external cyber specialists to help investigate. (Source: Google Maps)
Among other distressing claims, the email included observations of senior figures at the firm as “ruthlessly ambitious”, “lazy and unmotivated” and “senile and needs to retire”, as reported by 7News.
Topping this off, the email detailed the supposed bonuses, salaries, and performance ratings of over 900 staff members.
PEDESTRIAN.TV does not suggest the claims outlined in the emails are true.
In a statement issued over the weekend, CEO Tutungi described the email as “malicious” and maintained it was an invasion of privacy by someone impersonating a staff member.
“We are conducting a forensic investigation to find out how this occurred. I want to assure all of our employees that they will be provided every support possible,” she said, per Lawyers Weekly.
“It contains many disparaging, false, and deliberately misleading claims. The information attached to the email, while unreliable, should never have been shared.”
She said the firm remains fully committed to supporting staff during this time as well as meeting its legal and regulatory obligations, including reporting privacy breaches and any necessary compliance steps.
The firm’s chief executive has described the email as “malicious” and an invasion of privacy. (Source: Slater and Gordon website)
On Monday, Slater and Gordon elaborated this was not part of a co-ordinated cyberattack, rather it was a “lone wolf” incident, per a preliminary investigation by the firm’s cyber incident response team and external specialists.
It’s been reported the firm has sent numerous company-wide emails to assure employees that the email sent by a Gmail account using Ruiz-Matthyssen’s name was inaccurate.
Over the weekend, the firm was also forced to temporarily freeze access to its email archive in order to delete the rogue email from its systems, however the email and attached spreadsheet have now been widely shared in legal circles across the country, per the AFR.
The publication noted Slater and Gordon has reportedly begun contacting clients regarding the response to the email as well as former staff members whose pay details have been exposed.
Investigations remain underway into the incident — and it’s safe to say there will be many closely following this one.
Lead image: Google Maps
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