Berina Colakovic, wife of former NRL player Jai Arrow, is suing her employer, AI advertising platform StackAdapt, alleging she was discriminated against and denied procedural fairness after being suspended on the day she was due to return from maternity leave.
StackAdapt denies unlawfully suspending Colakovic or taking adverse action against her, and says complaints from staff justified its decision. The workplace dispute began weeks before Arrow was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Colakovic remains employed and continues to be paid while suspended.
"It's not just about the money, but the principle," she told News Corp. "I have seen it before where women are replaced or demoted while on maternity leave. It's wrong and I don't want [daughter] Ayla to grow up in a world where this can happen."
"It would be easy to avoid the stress of fighting what's happened to me, especially at this time, but to me it is wrong and my fight is about discrimination in the workforce," she said.
How the dispute began
Colakovic began working for StackAdapt in Canada before transferring to Singapore and then to Australia in 2019. Documents filed in the Federal Court by her lawyers at Maurice Blackburn allege a superior threatened her in September 2024, telling her there would be "performance discussions" unless she could "turn the business around." That allegedly included dismissing two employees in circumstances she believed might be unlawful, which she raised with the company's human resources department.
Colakovic told StackAdapt the following month that she was pregnant. She later took maternity leave and was scheduled to return on May 1, 2026.
The suspension
About a week before her return, she was told an existing investigation would resume and that her team would no longer report to her. Colakovic was instructed not to begin work at her normal time on her first day back. She was instead called into a meeting and suspended, and directed not to contact colleagues, clients or other stakeholders during the disciplinary process.
"I had no idea what the complaints were against me," Colakovic told News Corp. "When I was told, they were vague, lacking detail and I believe no basis for suspension."
Maurice Blackburn contacted StackAdapt three days later, describing the suspension as an ambush and claiming Colakovic had been denied procedural fairness.
StackAdapt's response
StackAdapt alleges Colakovic showed a "pattern of disengagement" in meetings, was unreceptive to feedback and showed an absence of empathy, and says some employees felt unheard or misunderstood while working with her. The company denies she was threatened by her superior and claims she had "expressed her satisfaction" with the outcome of her HR complaint. It also denies the investigation and suspension amounted to adverse action.
Colakovic's lawyers allege StackAdapt contravened the Fair Work Act and have called for the company to withdraw its allegations, end her suspension and return her to her former role as director of sales.
Wedding and diagnosis
The legal battle was put on hold while Colakovic and Arrow dealt with his MND diagnosis and prepared for their wedding, which took place in July 2026. Colakovic said the family now faced the possibility that both parents could be without work while raising their young daughter.
Arrow said he would stand beside his wife during the case after she supported him through his diagnosis. "Now it is my turn to support Berina in her fight for what she believes is right," he said. "She has been, and is, amazing."
