ACTEW's predecessor has faced about 20 civil cases alleging they were negligent in advising employees of their eligibility for the generous Commonwealth superannuation scheme, a court has heard.
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John Pangallo has taken both the Commonwealth and the former ACT Electricity Authority to court over claims they improperly told him he could not be part of the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme.
Mr Pangallo's case was ordered to go to mediation by ACT Supreme Court Chief Justice Helen Murrell on Friday morning, to try and resolve the matter out of court before a likely hearing next year.
The court heard that it was one of roughly 20 superannuation negligence cases involving the ACT Electricity Authority and the Commonwealth.
The vast majority of others had been settled, the court heard, but both the Electricity Authority and the Commonwealth were committed to defending themselves in Mr Pangallo's claim.
The circumstances of the Electricity Authority cases were described as "very relevant" to a major court win earlier this week for former public servant Wayne Meredith.
Mr Meredith won a case against the government after he was told he was ineligible to join the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme in the 1960s and 70s because he was a "blue collar worker".
It will be weeks until final damages are decided in Mr Meredith's case, but it could cost the government's hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Meredith decision follows similar wins by John Cornwell and Martin Guy, the latter receiving a payout of $303,582 in July.
A judgment handed down by Justice Richard Refshauge on Wednesday stated that Mr Meredith had started work with ACT Forests in January of 1966, when he was 19.
The father of four claimed he had asked about superannuation five times between 1966 and 1977.
Justice Refshauge said he was satisfied that Mr Meredith would have been eligible and would have joined a Commonwealth superannuation scheme had he been provided with the correct information at the time.
Addressing the ACT Supreme Court on Friday, Justice Refshauge adjourned the matter while further calculations for damages were conducted.
The case, one of five now before the court, will return on December 16.
An additional matter relating to the spouse of a former public servant is also expected to come before the ACT Supreme Court next year.
Justice Refshauge declined to set a date, but the matter could be heard as early as May.
Richard Faulks from Snedden, Hall and Gallop said he had been contacted by hundreds of former public servants regarding potential claims, prompting Senator Nick Xenophon to push for the establishment of an independent tribunal to fast track the matters.
