An FWC member was "clearly wrong" in concluding a university maintenance worker's threatening behaviour that included driving dangerously on campus fell short of that relied upon by his employer for dismissal, a full bench declared in overturning her finding of harshness.
An FWC full bench has upbraided a member for "inviting" an employer to seek to strike out an unfair dismissal claim after the employee failed to follow directions, holding that he didn't meet deadlines due to his baby son's medical condition, which required heart surgery.
A tribunal has ordered a health service to reinstate the chair of its credentialing committee dismissed for his role in appointing to an obstetrics job a recovering alcoholic suspected of falling off the wagon at work, rejecting as "absolute codswallop" its claim that the chair now poses a danger to the public.
An Aboriginal night patrol officer sacked for timesheet discrepancies has won back his council role after an FWC member took into account "very strong" ties to his remote community and the dearth of alternative employment opportunities.
An academic has welcomed a significant FWC full bench finding that a worker's refusal to participate in fingerprint scanning did not justify his dismissal and warns that many employers lack awareness of their legal obligations and the potential consequences of biometric technology.
The Federal Circuit Court has ordered indemnity costs against two casual employees who refused offers to settle their adverse action and award breach cases for $10,000 and maintained their demands for $95,000 payouts.
One of Australia's largest employers has convinced the FWC that it should have access to external legal representation to defend its dismissal of a self-represented employee accused of stealing $400, because its in-house legal and HR personnel lack expertise in IR advocacy.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a Telstra business centre's IT technician accused of supplying drugs, accessing p-rnography, sending the director's confidential documents outside the company and remotely locking the entire workplace out of the network during an investigation into his conduct.
The FWC has upheld the dismissal of a 63-year-old male employee who sent text messages calling a 37-year-old male colleague his "bitch" and "toy boy" and threatened to "molest" him and squeeze his testicles until it made him cry.
An experienced Qantas flight attendant who surreptitiously downed a quarter of a bottle of vodka on an 11-hour flight has failed to overturn her dismissal, with the FWC agreeing with the airline that she breached critical safety standards before trying to lie her way out of trouble.