Champion swimmer Michael Klim has won a $152,000 payout after he was suddenly sacked by the skincare business he founded.
Klim, 45, sued Milk & Co in the Federal Court claiming unpaid salary, annual and long service leave, and three months pay in lieu of notice.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist started the company in 2006, branding men’s products with his name, and women’s as Milk – his last name spelled backwards.
He sold the business in 2017 to a consortium of Chinese businessmen and was retained as managing director on a $200,000-a-year salary.
However, Klim was abruptly sacked on February 26, 2021 – which the lawsuit claimed caused him ‘shock, distress, and humiliation’.
Olympic swimmer Michael Klim (pictured with his girlfriend Michelle Owen) has won his $152,000 lawsuit against his skincare company after he was unceremoniously sacked
Klim, 45, sued Milk & Co in the Federal Court claiming unpaid salary, annual and long service leave, and three months pay in lieu of notice
Klim was in 2020 diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, a rare auto-immune disorder in the arms and legs, that prevented him from leaving Bali, where he has lived for many years.
He his since then tried in vain to recover $152,050.76 in entitlements, including $16,859.85 in salary, $31,801.78 in annual leave, $37,980.33 in long service leave, and $50,000 for three months pay in lieu of notice.
But less than four weeks after the breach of contract writ was filed on March 16, the case was dropped through a notice to the court.
His lawyer John Gdanski confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that Klim was paid what he demanded in the lawsuit.
The statement of claim revealed Klim’s contract reimbursed him up to $30,000 a year to commute between Australia and Bali.
Unrelated court documents revealed the Chinese buyers acquired the company as part of a plan to expand their ventures into Asia.
Chinese customers are huge buyers of Australian health products, which many believe to be the highest quality on the market.
The statement of claim revealed Klim’s contract reimbursed him up to $30,000 a year to commute between Australia and Bali (pictured there with Ms Owen)
Klim started the company in 2006, branding men’s products with his name (pictured), and women’s as Milk – his last name spelled backwards
Women’s products were branded Milk, which is is name spelled backwards
However, the company disintegrated within a few years and its website no longer works and its social media profiles not updated since last year.
Instead, there are comments from frustrated customers wondering why the company’s products were always out of stock and no one ever replied to them.
A rare reply to an Instagram comment last February blamed Covid outbreaks for products being unavailable.
‘We have to postpone our production since 2020. We are now aiming to launch an upgraded baby line including baby bath wash, baby shampoo and conditioner, baby moisturiser and baby recovery cream in the late 2022/early 2023,’ it wrote.
Company documents listed Yan Zeng as the sole director since 2019, and Mengyao Ling, Jie Cai, Xin He, and Hai Zhang as previous directors.
A holding company named Aubrands Pty Ltd was set up weeks before the acquisition as a means of buying Milk as a subsidiary.
Klim in his office in a promotional photo while he was still with the company
Social media advertising for Klim’s company used him as its chief marketing tool
Milk’s social media profiles haven’t been updated since last year and are filled with comments from frustrated customers wondering why the company’s products were always out of stock and no one ever replied to them
Yan Zeng was the only director since it was set up and shares are held mostly by business entities he controls.
Former shareholders include past directors of Milk & Co Pty Ltd.
Other court documents detailed legal and financial disputes between the former directors, which led to some of them being ousted.
Aubrands was also sued by the Wizard Pharmacy chain in Perth in 2020, and Tracktion Sales & Marketing in Melbourne in 2018.
The father-of-three revealed last year his mobility was so affected by CIDP that he could no longer leave Bali and make trips to Australia as he previously did several times a year for both work and treatment.
‘I have pulled my focus to the swim academy here in Bali and… we run a bunch of camps and clinics,’ he said on a podcast last October.
‘I have sort of simplified my lifestyle just from that point of view. I mean I did use to do 20 return trips to Australia a year for work and whatever.
‘But for now it’s just physically… physically actually impossible because (for) myself getting around is not simple.’
Klim was in 2021 also diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, a rare auto-immune disorder in the arms and legs
Klim last year presented his departure from his company as voluntary and related to his health, as opposed to being suddenly sacked by the new owners
Klim promotes the company’s products by trading on his image as an Olympic swimmer
Klim at the time presented his departure from his company as voluntary and related to his health, as opposed to being suddenly sacked by the new owners.
‘Look it has definitely put a stress on our finances and security because there is a level of investment for me,’ he said.
‘I stepped back from my role with Milk & Co because of the demand it had on me physically, flying back and forth and the stress as well.
‘I was very hands on doing sales and marketing. (But) unless I could give myself one hundred percent I didn’t want to do it.
‘So there’s definitely a couple of things I have been doing for the past 13 years that I had had to pull back a lot and with that is also a level of income.’
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