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The former head of Mardi Gras is suing the organisation over entitlements after resigning last year amid an “aggrieved” board member’s complaint against her and allegations she hid the company’s dire financial situation from the board.
The court saga has also revealed internal allegations of a “toxic” workplace and sexual misconduct against three Mardi Gras board members by seven staff members during the 2025 festival.
Clare ‘Gil’ Beckwith has taken Mardi Gras to the Industrial Court of NSW, saying the organisation didn’t pay her $21,000 of long service leave plus interest after she resigned due to illness, including stress and a case of shingles that was never formally diagnosed.
Beckwith, who was employed at the organisation between November 2018 and June 2025, is also seeking civil penalties with her claim.
Under NSW employment legislation, an employee who has served between five and 10 years is entitled to be paid long service leave if they resign due to illness or incapacity, or if the employer terminates their employment for any reason other than serious and wilful misconduct.
Mardi Gras rejects Beckwith’s claims of illness, and during cross-examination earlier this month, the organisation’s lawyer Philip Beazley asked her if a board member’s complaint against her in May 2025 had caused her stress.
Beckwith told the court that part of her “ongoing stress” at work was from the complaint. However, Mardi Gras’ lawyers disputed this claim, saying the timing of the complaint’s lodgment and her medical evidence were aligned.
“The date that the complaint had been made against the CEO, and if your honour looks at the medical evidence that occurred in May, it is all about the stress caused to her as a result of a complaint having been made against her and the dates fit in,” Beazley told the court.
“Prior to that, there was no mention of stress. There was no mention of anything other than that she might have a rash or shingles.”
In medical records from May 7, 2025, tendered to the court, a mental health practitioner says Beckwith was experiencing anxiety after choosing to end her contract early due to “incidents within the board and organisation, which [the] client is having to deal with currently through investigations”.
On May 12, doctors’ notes following an appointment with Beckwith say she found Mardi Gras to be a “toxic workplace” and that she was suffering from high stress. On May 20, the same mental health practitioner noted in a follow-up appointment that Beckwith reported an escalation in her workplace situation due to a complaint against her lodged by the person who was under investigation.
“Client feels this claim is vexatious and can reflect that [she] feels she has acted with integrity; however, it is worrisome that this is how she is exiting the organisation after giving so many years to it,” the note said.
Beckwith said no formal warning was issued to her over the complaint.
Court documents reveal an email chain between Mardi Gras director Mits Delisle and Beckwith, informing her that she was the subject of a complaint from former director Kyriakos Gold.
“Kyriakos has raised concerns alleging your involvement in historical governance issues, escalating hostility, and procedural misuse and premature escalation in regard to the anonymous staff concerns re: his behaviour at the [Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras] 2025 festival,” the email said.
In one of Beckwith’s affidavits, she says that from March 2025, she was “managing the formal complaints process relating to the allegations of sexual misconduct made by seven staff members against three of the respondent’s board members during the 2025 Mardi Gras Festival”.
But Mardi Gras argued she could not have resigned due to stress because it was not an illness but a state of mind and that her case of shingles had never been formally diagnosed.
Rather, a doctor only suspected and tested her for a diagnosis and provided her with a medical certificate for a consultation. During cross-examination, Beckwith conceded that a diagnosis for the condition was never provided.
However, Justice Peter Kite rebuked Mardi Gras’ defence, saying stress was not just a state of mind but, in fact, an illness.
Mardi Gras’ documents also allege Beckwith hid from the board that the organisation had been operating in the red for two years.
“[Beckwith] had hidden from the board the true dire financial position of [Mardi Gras],” the documents say.
“The board did not become aware of the true dire financial position of [Mardi Gras] until after [Beckwith] left her employment. Had [Mardi Gras] known the truth, those facts would have amounted to serious and wilful misconduct on the part of [Beckwith] such as to disentitle her to long service.”
In an April 2025 email to the board, Beckwith formalised her resignation and wrote that the “past two years have been very challenging”.
On her final working day in June 2025, Beckwith emailed the board again, including current chief executive Jesse Matheson, saying she was experiencing “undue stress, impacting on my physical and mental health and ability to do my job”.
Beckwith did not tell anyone in the organisation that she was feeling unwell before the June email, the court was told, and she alleged that numerous sexual misconduct complaints against board members had dissuaded her from divulging personal information.
“Since December 2024, there had been four different co-chairs, and at the meeting on March 14 (when Beckwith verbally resigned) … I had just received a number of complaints from staff members about their behaviour over the festival, and there had been … alleged sexual misconduct,” Beckwith said.
“I felt at that time I didn’t have the trust or ease of communication with the co-chairs to share my personal information.”
Mardi Gras co-chair Kathy Pavlich provided evidence through cross-examination, saying Beckwith hadn’t informed anyone she was taking sick leave and had processed her certificates and leave directly with human resources.
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Kayla Olaya is a culture reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners
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