Abano faces new employment lawsuit

Abano Healthcare chairman Trevor Janes (R) and Abano chief executive Alan Clarke (L). Photo / Dean Purcell

The former boss of Abano Healthcare's Australian dental business, Dental Partners, has lodged a multi-million dollar wrongful dismissal suit against the New Zealand company in the Queensland Supreme Court.

Mike Timoney, who co-founded Gold Coast-based Dental Partners and was its chief executive up until he was sacked last year, filed the A$4.5 million claim this week, the Australian Financial Review has reported.

The AFR said court documents allege that Abano's chief executive, Alan Clarke, engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct when he used K2 Consulting to carry out two performance reviews of Timoney, which led to his dismissal.

Clarke was allegedly a joint shareholder in K2, according to the court documents cited by the Australian newspaper.

"All I ever wanted was to be treated fairly. I founded this company. Being chucked out of the business in the dead of night like a criminal was not my idea of how I would depart," Timoney told the AFR.

Timoney's legal action comes as Abano continues to battle two rebel shareholders who claim the NZX-listed company - which operates the Lumino The Dentists chain in New Zealand and other health-related businesses - is underperforming financially.

Peter Hutson and James Reeves, who together own around 19 per cent of the healthcare firm, want Abano chairman Trevor Janes dumped and have requested a special meeting that will be held on June 13, when shareholders will vote on a resolution to remove Janes from the board.

Clarke wasn't immediately available for comment.

He told the AFR that he wanted to see the details of the legal claim before commenting.