In a recent case concerning a tanker driver and his application for workers compensation, Justice Bromberg of the Federal Court of Australia rejected the employer’s interpretation of the much discussed ‘motel sex case’. Motel sex case revisited To understand the implication of this recent case, it is necessary to revisit the details of the famed […]
A self-confessed tennis tragic has failed in her unfair dismissal application, after her employment was terminated when she attended the Australian Open in January. As the employee had exhausted all her annual leave entitlements as recently as September 2014, she applied for leave from 22 December to 2 January. Paid leave was approved until 31 […]
An employee who claimed a blender, Australia Day t-shirt, boxer shorts and bathmats on his company credit card has had his unfair dismissal claim dismissed after he was summarily dismissed for breach the employer’s policy. The employer had a travel policy that provided that ‘reasonable, necessary and duly documented expenses’ incurred during a business trip […]
In this case, an employee dismissed for a significant breach of safety procedure has been successful in his unfair dismissal application. Facts The employee was engaged by the employer on one of the country’s largest natural gas operations. The employee was appointed to the role of Acting Permit Coordinator in 2012. He was subsequently terminated […]
An employee, believed to have been intoxicated at work, has been successful in her unfair dismissal application which was heard by the FWC earlier this year. The incident that led to the dismissal of the employee centred on Melbourne Cup day in 2014. The employee claimed that she had a 3 or 4 drinks in […]
The Fair Work Commission has dismissed an unfair dismissal application made by an employee involved in a physical altercation with another employee. The feature of this claim was that the Applicant proceeded to claim that he had been the victim of workplace bullying. In short, after a verbal exchange between the Applicant and another employee, […]
An employee and her partner both worked for the same company. They worked in the same office, but did not perform the same tasks or interact to perform their tasks. After returning to Australia from an overseas trip, the employee was subjected to domestic violence by her partner. He took her phone and she said […]
This is another case that reminds employers again about the risks associated with providing employees with access to unlimited alcohol at workplace functions. In this case, the employer was found to have unfairly dismissed the employee despite a long list of incidents at the workplace Christmas party and the subsequent after party. Background The behaviour […]
The Fair Work Commission has recently found that an employer had taken adverse action against its employee when it unilaterally imposed unreasonable performance targets. The employee was employed by a real estate agency in a number of roles throughout her employment. In May 2014, the employee began what became a long health related absence, which […]
Three employees who were terminated after CCTV footage captured them finding and taking uniform items from an open cardboard box in their workplace have been reinstated by the Fair Work Commission. The employees were initially stood down by their employer pending an investigation into the conduct. During the investigation the employees were represented by their […]