An intellectual property firm fumbled an employee's summary dismissal when it switched from highlighting his deficient performance and conduct to "dishonesty" over time spent browsing the internet "for items of personal interest", the FWC has found.
In a full bench decision exploring what constitutes work-related conduct, essential services provider Ventia has failed to knock out the reinstatement of a firefighter who shared an Only Fans video and a meme showing three naked women in a "sickos" Facebook group of current and former colleagues.
The FWC has castigated an employer for its "unconscionable" and "intimidatory" written notice suggesting that a casual duty manager committed theft and fraud when she failed to pay for a drink or offer an explanation for missing stock, while it has also lambasted its representative, Clubs NSW, for its "unprofessional" conduct in characterising her conduct as criminal.
Australia’s largest family-owned office supplies company unfairly sacked an account manager when it claimed she repudiated her contract by refusing to get a COVID-19 jab, the FWC has found.
The FWC has reinstated a worker dismissed for allegedly trying to extend her annual leave by taking sick leave, which the employer viewed as a "dishonest" attempt to mislead it.
The FWC has ordered a Gold Coast cabaret club to compensate two workers it sacked after intercepting private social media discussions about a colleague's pay, finding it treated them like they had broken into its equivalent of the Watergate complex to expose key secrets over WikiLeaks.
An "openly gay" head chef sacked for allegedly molesting female co-workers has won $16,000 compensation, after the FWC found it "more than coincidental" that his employer decided that s-xual harassment provided a valid reason for summary dismissal before it emailed employees a survey full of loaded questions.
The FWC has ordered the reinstatement of a dump truck driver dismissed after a "deeply flawed" investigation into allegations he exposed a female trainee to explicit images while passing around his phone.
A FWC member incorrectly apportioned the burden of proof and applied the wrong test for "reasonable" self-defence in ordering reinstatement of a train driver sacked after fighting with a stranger on a station concourse, a full bench has found.
The FWC has offered a worker a week to consider his possible reinstatement, finding that his employer unfairly dismissed him for a low-speed wheelie-bin collision.
