In upholding the sacking of a nurse who slept on the job and refused to meet with her employer without a Health Workers Union organiser who was banned over OHS concerns, the FWC has found it not unreasonable for an HR manager to threaten to resign rather than work with the official.
Bench says employer's "bland" description no help to BOOT assessment; FWC takes chainsaw to gardener's sacking; and Tribunal rejects bid to require witness to appear in person.
In upholding the dismissal on medical grounds of a prison officer who was later declared fit, the FWC has noted his union gained permission to obtain a second opinion but also assisted him in making an ill-fated decision not to pursue it until after his termination.
An administration manager sacked for being a "lying thief" has been awarded compensation of more than $13,000 after the FWC found instead that she had likely been made a scapegoat for a business's alleged attempt to commit insurance fraud.
In an inherent requirements case highlighting the need for employers to keep detailed records about return to work plans, the FWC has upheld the dismissal of a bus driver kept off the road for 16 months by a combination of nerve pain and anxiety.
A geoscientist made redundant after almost two decades with the same company has been given a second chance to argue he was unfairly dismissed after a full bench found his former employer potentially led a Commission member into error when asserting there were no alternative positions available.
In an FWC case heavily reliant on circumstantial evidence, a former soldier with an unblemished work record has had his dismissal for stealing company property upheld after the tribunal heard of airport mix-ups on a remote island, alleged union skullduggery, an upset stomach – and a dead bat.
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.
The FWC has poked holes in the record-keeping and training practices of an employer and its HR manager that summarily dismissed a long-serving employee for breaching its "zero tolerance" mobile phone policy without making sure he was aware of it.
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.