In a decision noting that workers cannot hold employers to promises in a "changing world" in which they must move with the times, the FWC has held that a call centre had a valid reason to sack a contact officer who refused to learn new skills, but a "ruthless" process made it unfair.
The FWC has upheld the dismissal of an Energy Australia employee who told one colleague she could not get pregnant due to her sexuality and suggested to another that he was related to Deepak Chopra because of his Indian descent.
NUW deregistered, UWU out of the blocks; Wrong rate claim sinks offshore deal, Bench rules; Google no answer to getting dismissal right; and Cop's bid for early long service leave rejected.
The FWC has found "overly harsh and unreasonable" the demotion of a correctional officer for using excessive force on a detainee, while upholding his employer's misconduct findings.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a BHP Coal mineworker who punched a supervisor in the face and asked a colleague if she had "fake t-ts" at a company Christmas party, but has reinstated another employee dismissed for serious misconduct at the same event.
In a decision that potentially moves the dial on how much the 21-day deadline for unfair dismissal claims can be stretched, the FWC has in discerning no practical consequences granted an extension to a worker who lodged their form 29 minutes after midnight on a Friday.
A company "motivated by malice" when it forged documents to cut the leave balance of a chief operating officer it perceived as "a thorn in its side" has been ordered to pay $250,000 in penalties and unpaid entitlements.
The FWC has admonished a BHP subsidiary for taking a "haphazard" approach to its disciplinary guidelines, finding it had a valid reason to sack a mineworker for her "deviant" conduct when she put a s-x toy in a colleague's carry-on baggage, but procedural failings made it unfair.
The FWC has rejected the "post fabricated" inventions of a supermarket owner found to have sacked a casual shop assistant because he preferred workers from Asian-speaking backgrounds, ordering full compensation despite claims it would destroy his business.
