Discrimination and equity page 84 of 89

Global smelting company Nyrstar had a valid reason to sack two workers for a history of bullying behaviour, but its failure to deal with the conduct over a long period and to put specific allegations to them meant the dismissals were unfair, the FWC has ruled.

A court has rejected a discrimination complaint from an indigenous graduate employee of the former DEEWR, after accepting that the department's prompt, reasonable and informal response to a racially offensive remark should have ensured the employee wasn't injured in the enjoyment of her work.

A part-time HR manager's bullying claim against her chief executive backfired when her employer discovered while investigating her complaint that she had been using its resources to do work for other organisations.

The Federal Court has raised some important questions over whether employees have a "workplace right" to talk to the media about conditions in their workplaces.

A senior member of the Fair Work Commission has told employers they need strong workplace conduct policies and grievance procedures and should select line managers with good interpersonal skills, to help them prevent bullying claims.

A long-time power station employee who claimed to have been "oddly unsuccessful" in six promotion applications has failed to convince a tribunal that he was discriminated against because of his union or industrial activity.

A new report from a major employment law firm predicts that the Senate will pass the Abbott Government's Fair Work Act and building industry amendments, suggests the next reforms will be limits on industrial action and productivity requirements for enterprise agreements, and highlights the lower than expected activity in the FWC's anti-bullying jurisdiction.

A full court of the Federal Court has upheld a finding that a pub two work colleagues visited to deal with s-xual advances one made to the other in their office across the road was a "workplace" under federal discrimination legislation.

A court has found that a worker who was asked to look for alternative employment due to his heart condition was dismissed, rejecting his employer's argument that his job ended by "mutual agreement".

The Fair Work Commission has refused to suppress the name of an employer and an individual subject to a bullying claim, but has warned the employee that its ruling is not a green light to publicly reveal their identity before the hearing.