A social justice advocate who successfully campaigned to change the name of Coon cheese is seeking a $1 million payout for what he claims is his wrongful dismissal from an Indigenous health service.
Dr Stephen Hagan was appointed chief executive of Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health Services (TAIHS) five months ago but was stood down on Wednesday after being told the service's board had unanimously passed a vote of no confidence against him.
Dr Hagan said he was suspicious when he received a text message from a TAIHS chairman asking to meet to "hand something" to him.
There had been no indication that his employment was at risk, Dr Hagan said.
"[At the meeting] they made reference [that] they don't believe I have the financial skills to manage a large and complex organisation such as TAIHS," he said.
"The stench of that … I'm going to find it difficult to secure a job."
Dr Hagan has a long history of litigation.
He was a key figure in a 20-year campaign to rename Coon cheese due to its offensive history; dairy products company Saputo agreed to re-label it Cheer cheese in July 2020.
Dr Hagan also won an appeal before the United Nations to re-name the E S 'Nigger' Brown Grand Stand at a Toowoomba stadium.
"I sued Mattel recently for a Scrabble game where you can use [derogatory terms] 'abo' and 'coon' to win a Scrabble game and that's now been changed," Dr Hagan said.
"I got golliwogs out of chemists, it goes on and on.
"I'm a very litigious First Nations person ... so when I say I'm going to take you to court, you better believe I'm going to take you to court."
Dr Hagan is seeking $1million from TAIHS to compensate for the remainder of his three-year contract and reputational damage.
The end of his six-month probation with TAIHS had been discussed, Dr Hagan said, but the board told him they would wait for a KPI report before making any decision.
"My KPIs are through the roof. I've exceeded all my KPIs. They all knew I'd exceeded all KPIs," Dr Hagan said.
Dr Hagan said he had received a positive response from the community during his tenure at TAIHS and had been approached by Indigenous and non-Indigenous health professionals willing to work under him.
"It was a signal that we were going forward," he said.
Dr Hagan said a number of his new recruits have now proposed resigning after learning of his dismissal.
A letter from Dr Hagan's lawyers initiating court proceedings against TAIHS confirms a board member has resigned from the organisation "because they did not support the Board's treatment of Dr Hagan nor the decision to terminate his employment".
TAIHS chairman Michael Illin was contacted but declined to comment.
