Queensland St Vincent de Paul Society ordered to = pay $27,500=20 to president sacked for not being Catholic

By Tanya Chilcott

The Courier-Mail

December 27, 2008 01:22am

Payout ... Linda Walsh was awarded $27,500 = damages in a=20 case against St Vincent De Paul. Picture: Tim=20 Marsden

St Vinnies order to pay $27,500 compo=20
President sacked for not being Catholic=20
Landmark anti-discrimination decision

THE St Vincent de Paul Society of Queensland = has been=20 ordered to pay $27,500 to a voluntary president it sacked because she = was not=20 Catholic.

The landmark decision in the Anti-Discrimination = Tribunal has=20 massive implications for the welfare organisation.

State = president John=20 Campbell said the organisation was disappointed at the decision and had = sought=20 legal advice over whether it should appeal or try to have legislation = amended,=20 The Courier-Mail reports.

The = $27,500 has been=20 awarded to Kingston woman Linda=20 Walsh for "offence, hurt, embarrassment and intimidation" following = the=20 society's decision to stand her down as president of the Migrant and = Refugees=20 Logan Centre.

According to documents tendered to the tribunal, = Ms=20 Walsh's work for the centre was her reason "to get up in the morning". =

After volunteering = for the=20 society in 1997, she first became a president of a St=20 Vincent "conference" - or group of people who respond to calls for=20 assistance in the community, according to the charity's website - in = March 2003.=20

By the end of the year, she was working unpaid seven days a = week.=20

But trouble started in January 2004 when objections to her not = being=20 Catholic were raised.

Ms Walsh said she was asked when she first = joined=20 the society whether she was Catholic and there were no objections to her = being=20 Christian only. She also was accepted as a conference president in 2003 = despite=20 not being Catholic.

But, in 2004, the society gave Ms Walsh = three=20 options - become a Catholic, resign her position and stay only as a = member, or=20 leave the society.

Eventually, Ms Walsh took her case to the=20 Anti-Discrimination Tribunal.

Ms Walsh told The = Courier-Mail=20 she felt betrayed by the society to which she had devoted her life.=20

"They put me through the wringer and back," she said. "It hurt, = it=20 really hurt."

In its tribunal documents, the society argued its = primary=20 function was to "inculcate the Catholic faith in its members" and the = charity=20 aspect was secondary for presidents, which meant they needed to be = Catholic.=20

The tribunal found the society did not prove its case and = awarded=20 compensation to Ms Walsh as well as court costs.

Mr Campbell = said that=20 although Ms Walsh did volunteer work, she also was a member and they = believed=20 they should have the rights to choose their members, just as a bowling = club did.=20

He said the rule that all presidents should be Catholic was=20 "understood", even if it hadn't been written prior to Ms Walsh's = membership.=20

He declined to comment = further.

Queensland St Vincent de Paul Society ordered to = pay $27,500=20 to president sacked for not being Catholic

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