I'm sure that's what the judge thought when this case same across his desk....
Escorts a work expense, court told
Question: When might thousands of dollars worth of escort agency services be considered a work-related personal expense for a corporate executive?
Answer: When an accountant might find they relate to entertainment or living away from home expenditure for companionship while interstate.
But even the Industrial Court judge hearing an unfair dismissal case could barely believe that Tas Sinadinos lived in the "real world" in claiming that escort services might be a legitimate tax deduction claim for personal expenses related to his relocation to Sydney as executive manager, logistics, for EDI Rail Pty Ltd on a salary of $185,000.
Mr Sinadinos is seeking orders including 12 months' salary in damages and a declaration that he was not guilty of misconduct in using his corporate American Express card for escort services.
His sacking from the company that provides Sydney trains was "unfair" as he was never shown the company's employee "code of conduct" when headhunted from Melbourne in December 2004.
He told the court he only saw the company policy on corporate card use a month later, by which time he claims to have had a verbal agreement with his manager to charge work-related personal expenses to his corporate credit card provided they were reimbursed directly.
But Mr Sinadinos agreed he did not directly pay back the company for up to $12,000 in personal charges at Coles, Theo's Liquor Store and Delfare Pty Ltd, an Annandale-based escort company, and other Sydney escort services...
...Mr Sinadinos agreed he had not worked since his sacking on August 31, 2005 over "inappropriate and unacceptable" personal spending on escort services....
...Buying escort services for "company" was "not dissimilar" to buying fittings for his apartment. He could not "differentiate [escort services] from buying a rack on which to put food on for my apartment. I would leave that to an accountant."
0 kindred spirits ~ This bugs them too!:
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