Accused of misconduct and cleared, ex-CEO wins vindication and $2.3 million

For former space industry start-up boss Carley Scott, her court battle win is deeply personal.

It is a validation of her claim she is owed millions from rocket base operator Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) and also clears her name of accusations of serious misconduct that were rejected by the Federal Court of Australia.

A four-year contractual breach case between ELA and the former chief executive wrapped up on June 19, with a decisive judgement in Ms Scott's favour and the court finding she is entitled to more than $2 million in compensation.

"To go through this court case, which to me was fundamentally about making sure that I've behaved well … was as personal as you can get," she told ABC Radio Darwin.

"It's been approximately four years of having something, almost daily, that is exceptionally unpleasant."

Ms Scott said hearing "horrible" things said about her had been compounded by "the process of trying to prove that to be incorrect".

"You have your family and friends dragged through this ordeal the whole way as well," she said.

"It is a very draining process to go through, but in this case in particular, well worth it."

Ms Scott sued ELA after she was sacked in 2022, with the company then counter-suing her in return, kicking off the heated years-long court process.

ELA had argued in court that Ms Scott's contract was never valid, and claimed the Order of Australia Medal recipient had agreed to forgo her contractual entitlements to participate in a plan that gave employees company shares.

In his ruling, Justice Craig Dowling found Ms Scott to be a "credible and truthful" witness and rejected key elements of ELA's claims against her, including allegations she had fabricated evidence.

"I find that ELA breached the employment contract … Ms Scott is entitled to the sum of $2,367,430," Justice Dowling ruled.

Ms Scott's defence solicitor, Imogen Szumer from Maurice Blackburn, described the court win as a "complete vindication of Carley Scott and a testament to her resilience through complex and hard-fought litigation".

"The court accepted Ms Scott's evidence in full and found that her contractual rights must be honoured,"

she said.

CEO terminated before NASA launches

Ms Scott was contracted as the inaugural chief executive of ELA in 2018.

In the role, she worked with traditional owner groups to try and convince stakeholders that ELA could attract space industry heavyweights to fire rockets from its launch site in Arnhem Land, in the remote Northern Territory.

"Under her leadership as CEO, [ELA] progressed from a fledgling start-up with no sophisticated funding to an organisation that secured the contract for NASA's first commercial spaceport launch from any site outside America," Ms Szumer said.

Her employment was terminated in 2022 and, according to her legal team, Ms Scott was then "subsequently subjected to serious and unfounded allegations by ELA".

Months after she was removed from her role, ELA made history without Ms Scott, when US space giant NASA fired three sub-orbital rockets from the north-east Arnhem Land site.

Justice Dowling found "differences" between ELA's than-chair Michael Jones and Ms Scott over the "operation and success of ELA" had partly "led to the end" of her employment with the firm.

In his judgement, he rejected parts of the evidence Mr Jones — who became ELA's chief executive — had given in court about Ms Scott's contracts and conduct.

Justice Dowling said, at times when evidence given by the chief executive was "not consistent with the evidence of Ms Scott, I prefer the evidence of Ms Scott".

Questions raised over payment

Whether Ms Scott is now able to collect her entitlements is a different issue, as the embattled rocket firm ELA went into liquidation earlier this year.

"Being able to see any of that money or not, we'll see what comes of it," she said.

"But really, the ability to stand up for what was to me exceptionally important, in saying these allegations need to be resoundingly rejected — and they have been — was the core, and I'll hold onto that."

Ms Szumer said there may still be a further battle ahead to access the funds.

"It doesn't end here and we'll continue to pursue this matter and do our very best to make sure Ms Scott gets the benefits that were owed to her,"

she said.

ELA also still owes its chief investor, the NT government, $5 million.

Mr Jones and the company left the Northern Territory after the chief executive claimed ELA was unable to secure a long-term land tenure agreement with traditional owner groups.

The Northern Land Council has disputed ELA's version of events.

Mr Jones and ELA then attempted to set up operations in Far North Queensland, but authorities in that state said the company was unsuccessful in trying to secure necessary land use agreements.

The only rockets ever fired from the Arnhem Land space centre were in 2022.