A dissident board member at the body representing employers in the Victorian building industry has failed to unmask a purported whistleblower in a case compared to a John Grisham novel by a judge.

Lisa Hollingsworth, who has been fighting with the Master Builders Association of Victoria (MBAV) over the conduct of a fund it jointly administers with the construction union, went to the County Court last month seeking the identity of a person who complained about her to the employer body.

Ms Hollingsworth, who is also a councillor and former mayor at one of Melbourne's wealthiest council areas, Boroondara, wanted the name of the person so that she could sue them and the MBAV for defamation.

But what should have been a simple dispute over access to documents "morphed into something bigger",

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