A pub­lic ser­vant has been award­ed over $790,000 in com­pen­sa­tion for be­ing by­passed for pro­mo­tion in favour of a col­league, who won a na­tion­al schol­ar­ship.

High Court Judge Joan Charles or­dered the com­pen­sa­tion for Wendy Ann Lewis as she up­held her con­sti­tu­tion­al law­suit against the Of­fice of the At­tor­ney Gen­er­al on Thurs­day.

In rul­ing that Lewis’ con­sti­tu­tion­al right to equal­i­ty of treat­ment from a pub­lic au­thor­i­ty was breached, Jus­tice Charles ruled that there was no jus­ti­fi­able aim in pro­mot­ing a re­turn­ing na­tion­al schol­ar ahead of sim­i­lar­ly qual­i­fied but less ex­pe­ri­enced pub­lic ser­vants such as Lewis.