The FWC has found it highly likely that a worker's Scottish accent contributed to her "this is sh*t" comment being misheard by her supervisor as "I quit", meaning the employer lacked a valid reason for her subsequent dismissal.
Svitzer has failed to convince a FWC full bench that it has an "unfettered" right to choose which category its employees fall into regardless of operating procedures at five ports.
A director's argument that he is well qualified to represent his company in an underpayments case has fallen flat, a court citing a "lack of objectivity" as being among the reasons to reject the proposition.
The 12-day gap between a concreter's two-day "trial" and starting full-time work did not count as "continuous" employment, leaving him just shy of the statutory minimum necessary to challenge his dismissal, the FWC has found.
An "openly gay" head chef sacked for allegedly molesting female co-workers has won $16,000 compensation, after the FWC found it "more than coincidental" that his employer decided that s-xual harassment provided a valid reason for summary dismissal before it emailed employees a survey full of loaded questions.
The FWC has upheld a major insurance provider's sacking of a work-from-home employee whose keystrokes data revealed inactivity 90% of the time, finding her circumstances "all the more regrettable" given her previous long history of satisfactory service.
A pharmacy worker sacked for requesting unpaid domestic violence leave has been awarded more than $17,000 compensation after the FWC rejected the employer's claims that performance issues sparked the dismissal.
In a rare instance of the "power imbalance" between employer and employee being reversed, the FWC has found that a worker hired to help a migrant family earn a business visa by running a regional bakery unilaterally reduced his hours without cutting his pay.
The FWC has upheld the summary sacking of a "drunk and disorderly" financial advisor who refused to be breath-tested after turning up to work with bloodshot eyes and smelling of alcohol.
A court has penalised an experienced HR manager held to have humiliated a worker by speaking only to her husband about whether she was quitting and seizing on the first chance to get rid of her to avoid a bullying and harassment case, while the employer faces a near-$100,000 payout.
