SA Education Union boss Leah York resigns after video shows her allegedly stealing a jumper

Union boss on $200,000 a year resigns after second video of her emerges in a shop putting a jumper in her bag and allegedly leaving without paying

  • SA union boss Leah York was caught allegedly shoplifting
  • CCTV shows her allegedly taking a handbag and a jumper
  • She quit the Funds SA Board after the footage emerged

A top union boss raking in $200,000 a year has resigned after she was caught on camera in a clothing store allegedly shoplifting a jumper and a $280 handbag. 

Australian Education Union SA secretary Leah York announced she was stepping down from the Funds SA Board after CCTV emerged of both incidents.

The latest video that was released on Tuesday shows Ms York browsing through different clothes at Lima & Co in Mount Gambier. 

She at one point picks up an orange jumper and observes it closely before putting it back.

Ms York then looks around the store as she takes the jumper off the hangar, tucks it away into her handbag and walks off. 

Australian Education Union SA secretary Leah York (pictured) has resigned after she was caught allegedly stealing an orange jumper and a $280 handbag from a clothing store

That came three minutes before Ms York returned to take a $280 handbag off the same shelf and left Lima & Co without paying for it, according to the store. 

She said the situation over the handbag was a ‘misunderstanding’ after Lima & Co posted the first video of her taking the bag to their social media.

Ms York said she went to the counter and told the staff she wanted to pay for a jacket and the handbag.

She thought she had paid for both but only paid for the jacket. Then Ms York left the jacket and her phone at the store to go to the bathroom and then returned 10 minutes later, taking off with the jacket and handbag.

The senior union leader apologised and paid for the handbag last weekend. 

The union boss was first caught out leaving the store with a $280 handbag she didn't pay for (pictured)

The union boss was first caught out leaving the store with a $280 handbag she didn’t pay for (pictured)

Ms York was in the area to attend briefing sessions about the education union's enterprise bargaining campaign

Ms York was in the area to attend briefing sessions about the education union’s enterprise bargaining campaign

However, the store’s owner, Lisa Attard, discovered Mr York had also allegedly taken the orange jumper while reviewing CCTV footage of her visit and uploaded the footage to social media.

‘This footage speaks volumes. You have impacted our staff greatly,’ she wrote.

Ms York, who commanded a salary of at least $200,000 in her job, had been in the area at the time to attend briefing sessions about the education union’s enterprise bargaining campaign, according to The Advertiser.

Funds SA released a statement about Ms York’s resignation on Wednesday.

‘Funds SA Chairman Paul Laband advises that Ms Leah York has today provided notification that she has resigned from the Funds SA Board,’ it read.

She had been on the Funds SA Board since May 2018. 

Ms York has also deleted her Facebook page since the incident.

SA Police said the matter had been reported and police were investigating.