A senior Woolworths executive had a suspected stroke, went temporarily blind and was hospitalised five times after regularly clocking more than 100 hours a week on the job, according to documents filed with the Federal Court.
Woolworths chief growth officer Miwah Van is suing the supermarket giant for discrimination and adverse action under the Fair Work Act, claiming she was bullied after developing breast cancer that the supermarket chain’s then-chief executive, Brad Banducci, said made other executives feel “awkward”.
Mr Banducci allegedly told Ms Van her complaints about other executives were “crazy” and did not “reflect well” on her.
Ms Van also alleges that Woolworths broke its spending rules by splashing $13.5 million on a contractor who approved his own invoices, in breach of company policy.
She claims that as her relationship with the company broke down, she was “lucky to get only one or two hours sleep a night”.
The former executive, whose job involved corporate strategy and development, has not specified how much she is seeking in damages from Woolworths, but according to her filing wants compensation for lost future earnings and bonuses, as well as medical expenses and damage to her professional reputation.
Brad Banducci resigned from his role as Woolworths CEO in September 2024. (Four Corners: Nick Wiggins)
In a statement, her lawyers, Harmers Workplace Lawyers, said the claim “will inevitably be a large one based on her very senior role, losing her career and the significant harm imposed on her by Woolworths”.
None of Ms Van’s allegations have been tested in court.
A Woolworths spokesperson said the company would defend the claim.
“Given the matter is before the courts it would be inappropriate to provide any further comment,” the spokesperson said.
In her statement of claim, filed last month and provided to the ABC by the court on Wednesday, Ms Van said she started work at Woolworths in September 2019.
She said she started as general manager of group strategy but over the next few years her role expanded to include responsibility for a number of other areas.
Almost immediately, she said she was confronted with a heavy workload and lack of resources. She alleges that when she complained, an executive told her the workload was normal and she was expected to “drink from a fire hose”.
‘Is it because I have cancer?’
According to the statement of claim, Ms Van was told in September 2020 by Woolworths’ then-chief transformation officer, Von Ingram, that Mr Banducci and chief people officer Caryn Katsikogianos had agreed Ms Van would succeed Ms Ingram as chief transformation officer.
This would have been a promotion to the top tier of executives within Woolworths.
Ms Van alleges that in September 2022, Ms Ingram told her that discussions with other people about the chief transformation officer were underway.
She said she asked Ms Ingram: “What’s really changed? Is it because I have cancer?”
She then emailed Mr Banducci directly, saying she was “surprised and shocked to hear that a ‘search’ was being undertaken for the appointment of a new Chief Transformation Officer”.
“My surprise and shock was due to the expectations that have been created through representations made to me over an extended period that clearly indicated I was considered to be the natural successor to the role,” she said in the email.
Claim details more than 100 hours at work a week
Ms Van set out her work hours at Woolworths in a chart filed with the court.
She claimed that before her cancer diagnosis, she worked a minimum of 64 hours a week, peaking at 119 hours a week.
There are 168 hours in a week.
She alleged that during that period, she had three episodes of swelling, hives, a loss of vision and a suspected mild stroke.
A Woolworths spokesperson said the company would defend the claim. (ABC News: John Gunn)
The suspected stroke, in August 2020, resulted in her being rushed to the hospital emergency department with stabbing chest pains, numbness and weakness in her left side and visual impairment, she said.
Even while being treated for cancer with radiation and chemotherapy, she said she worked up to 115 hours a week.
Ms Van claims that in August 2022, she became aware that one of Woolworths contractors, consultant Paul McNamara of Adaptovate, was authorising payment for his own invoices in breach of the supermarket group’s policies.
She alleged she raised the concerns with other executives.
Ms Van also alleged that Woolworths broke a self-imposed $5 million limit on spending with Adaptovate.
Instead, it spent $13.5 million with the consultancy, she alleged.
‘From fighting for my life to fighting for my job’
Ms Van alleged that prestigious roles in Woolworths were taken off her after she was diagnosed with cancer in March 2022.
In her statement of claim she said that at a meeting in a café near Woolworths in October 2022 Mr Banducci tried to stop her from making complaints.
Mr Banducci allegedly told her that her complaints were “crazy”, did not “reflect well” on her and she was “at risk of self-sabotaging yourself”.
She claimed he warned her that “this is the moment … where you must behave appropriately right now”.
Referring to her cancer diagnosis, he is also alleged to have told Ms Van: “We are all a bit awkward about it”.
Ms Van also alleges that in August 2023 she was wrongly marked down in a performance review after complaining repeatedly about her excessive hours and her team’s lack of resources.
Ms Van has been on leave from Woolworths since April, 2024. (ABC News: Sarah Maunder)
Her direct boss, Jane Danzinger, allegedly gave her an “achieve” rating instead of the “exceed” ratings she received the previous three years, citing her lack of “adequate work-life balance in performing her role” as one of the reasons for the downgrade.
Ms Van alleged that in a meeting a week later, Ms Ingram became aggressive when she raised the issue of the chief transformation officer role and told her she should “leave Woolworths”.
In another meeting, Ms Van said she told Ms Danzinger she was blindsided when the CTO role was taken away from her.
She also allegedly told Ms Danzinger that in “the last 12 months I went from fighting for my life to fighting for my job”.
Ms Van alleges that in March 2024, Mr Banducci told her that her role as chief growth officer would be made redundant and offered her a lesser job working on artificial intelligence within Woolworths.
Mr Banducci resigned from his $8.5m a year job in September last year, after a disastrous year that included walking out on an interview with the ABC’s Four Corners program about supermarket prices. He later returned to complete the interview.
He is now the chief executive of Ticketek’s parent company, TEG.
Ms Van has been on leave since April, 2024.
