The pitfalls of self-representation have been highlighted by an FWC full bench that found it would be "futile" to hear a former chief executive's anti-bullying case because his notice of appeal "expressly" indicated he was seeking an unnecessary order.
In a rare case of an FWC member standing themselves down, a commissioner has found that comments she made about the "vexatious" applicants in a discontinued anti-bullying case could lead observers to question her impartiality when considering a counter anti-bullying application by the original respondent.
A one-time star employee's anti-bullying application has been rejected despite acknowledgment of his "devastation" at being placed on successive performance improvement plans he believed resulted from unfair interpretations of his position description.
A major medical practice's former chief executive has had his application for a bullying order against two doctor-directors thrown out by the FWC, which observed that "short of storming the barricades" he had no prospect of ever meeting the threshold requirement of returning to his job.
A senior FWC member has refused to stay a former Sydney Trains employee's stop bullying application while he pursues reinstatement through the courts, observing that mud would "stick" to his accused ex-colleagues as long as the matter went unresolved.
A court has thrown out an aggrieved former employee's bullying case, finding he could not substantiate claims of a "complex conspiracy" that involved a flatulent supervisor.
In the wake of the public spotlight on the Qantas "inclusive language" guidelines, one of its baggage handlers has failed to convince the FWC that tearing a colleague's shirt, shoving him against a locker and telling him to f-ck off back to his country were not sackable offences but rather a bit of "argy bargy" between friends, consistent with the workplace culture.
In a decision underlining the challenges for the Commission in managing vulnerable self-represented employees in its bullying jurisdiction, a full bench has rejected an employee's claim that a tribunal member's procedures were responsible for her mental distress.