In a closely-watched dismissal case contemplating how much weight should be attached to mitigating factors, an FWC majority full bench has reinstated a worker sacked for his foul abuse and threats to colleagues via text messages and phone calls while drunk.
The Federal Circuit Court has taken a broad view of what amounts to an employment-related complaint in ordering an employer to pay more than $150,000 in compensation and penalties for its adverse action when it sacked a senior employee who upbraided his chief executive for failing to pay outstanding invoices to a key subcontractor that had downed tools in protest.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a personal assistant who became entangled in a company power play, finding that her employer's belief that she lied to cover a director's tardiness satisfied the requirements of the small business code.
In a rare case turning on an employee's loss of trust in his employer rather than the other way around, the FWC has stepped back from ordering the reinstatement of a worker found to have been unfairly dismissed, despite describing it as the most "compelling" remedy.
The FWC has ordered a franchisee to compensate an unfairly dismissed employee who contacted head office to report her boss for drunkenness and drink driving in accordance with company whistleblowing provisions.
Glencore's Oaky North coal mine workers have voted to accept the same in-principle agreement that they rejected in January, with the CFMMEU crediting its successful FWC bid to pause a bitter seven-month lockout with creating the right environment to break the deadlock.
Confusing evidence from Rio Tinto experts might have contributed to a senior FWC member incorrectly assessing the number of safety breaches committed by a dismissed mechanic, a Commission full bench has found.
The South Australian branch of the AWU has refused to participate in a hearing into a major grain company's successful agreement termination bid, telling the FWC it has "no confidence" in a legal process for employer terminations that unfairly bolsters their bargaining position.
A judge has chosen to overlook an admission of adverse action included in a solicitor's "embellished" employer response, despite noting that the statement was approved by the company's director.
