After 27 years of loyal service at one of Sydney’s most prestigious private high schools, a secondary teacher has secured a landmark legal victory after an independent workplace tribunal ruled his termination was harsh, unjust, and unreasonable.
Patrick Cogan, the long-time partner of convicted baby killer Keli Lane, was sacked by St Pius X College Chatswood in 2025. The school issued three formal show-cause letters between May and October that year, outlining three core allegations against the 50-year-old educator: that he misused his official work email to conduct personal business related to Lane’s parole advocacy, that he failed to notify the institution ahead of a scheduled 60 Minutes program segment covering his partner’s case, and that he did not submit a medical certificate the school deemed acceptable when he took unpaid personal leave. The college argued that Cogan’s actions amounted to a deliberate disregard of school policies and a breach of his employment contract, adding that his relationship with Lane and public advocacy on her behalf posed an unacceptable reputational risk to the elite campus.
Following the dismissal, Cogan took his case to Australia’s Fair Work Commission, arguing his termination was unwarranted. In a final judgment delivered on April 1, FWC Deputy President Tony Slevin rejected every one of the school’s claims. Slevin found that neither Cogan’s failure to pre-notify the college of the upcoming media segment nor the disputed medical certificate met the standard for a contractual breach. He further noted that Cogan never denied using his work email to coordinate legal and advocacy efforts for Lane—contacts that included correspondence with lawyers, psychologists, political representatives, journalists, and New South Wales Corrective Services. Slevin ruled that Cogan’s use of the work account was justified by his extraordinary personal circumstances, and that the educator had long been careful to balance his public support for his partner with the school’s reputational concerns.
The judgment also criticized the school’s hasty handling of the case. With Cogan already on unpaid personal leave at the time of the proceedings, Slevin said there was no urgent reason for the college to move forward with a termination as quickly as it did. The institution failed to give Cogan adequate opportunity to respond to all accumulated concerns before issuing the dismissal, a procedural failure that amounted to a lack of proper notification of the reason for his firing, the ruling found. Even when Cogan proposed a voluntary retrenchment deal that would have eliminated the school’s claimed reputational risk, administrators rejected the offer.
In rejecting the school’s argument that Cogan could not be trusted to manage reputational risks if reinstated, Slevin emphasized that Cogan’s demonstrated devotion to his partner was matched by his longstanding commitment to his career and the college. “From 2010, with the conviction of Ms Lane, and no doubt earlier, Mr Cogan was conscious of the need to balance the support he gave to his partner with the potential reputational impact that support may have on the College,” Slevin wrote in his ruling. He also confirmed that the school had not suffered any provable reputational harm from Cogan’s advocacy for Lane.
Lane, a former champion water polo player, was found guilty in 2010 of the 1996 murder of her newborn daughter, and sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2011, with a non-parole period of 12 years and five months. While the ruling made her eligible for parole in 2024, her release was denied under New South Wales’ controversial “No Body, No Parole” laws, which block parole for convicted murderers who do not reveal the location of their victim’s remains. Lane has consistently maintained her innocence throughout her imprisonment. Earlier this year, she was granted a rare supervised day release from Sydney’s Silverwater Maximum Security Prison to attend the FWC hearings and support Cogan during his case.
Slevin’s final order requires St Pius X College to immediately reinstate Cogan to his teaching position and reimburse him for all unpaid wages lost during his wrongful dismissal, with the two parties to negotiate the final amount of back pay.