A worker sacked after allegedly masturbating at work when he claimed he was scratching a persistent rash between his pubic bone and belly button has failed to establish that his employer discriminated against him on the basis of an impairment.
In a case likely to be closely watched by employers considering mandatory coronavirus vaccinations, the FWC will probe whether Ozcare unfairly sacked a long serving care assistant who refused a compulsory flu shot on allergy grounds, while the Commission has also weighed-in on the contentious issue of compulsory jabs for Santas.
The FWC has praised the CSIRO's approach to the dismissal of a scientist accused of threatening students he supervised, describing him as a "peddler of false allegations" who sought to characterise almost every interaction with a superior as bullying.
In a warning about the myriad ways disciplinary investigations can go wrong, the FWC has rejected virtually every finding a large government agency relied on to sack an experienced rail employee who described his dismissal meeting as a "Pearl Harbour" moment.
After the FWC reinstated one of two truck driver TWU delegates involved in a punch-up, it has now upheld Toll's dismissal of the second driver because he lied during its investigation – a reason not relied on by the employer.
The FWC has found the MUA should have followed the NSW chief medical officer's advice to return to the docks after OHS representatives issued a "cease work" order in response to wharfies contracting COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic.
A full Federal Court majority has found a judge did not deny a building contractor procedural fairness by failing to put it on notice before declaring it breached non-pleaded coercion provisions, during a meeting with undertones of The Godfather.
An employee's failure to tell her employer about an eight-hour freelance photoshoot on Channel 9's The Block did not justify its decision to issue her a formal warning, the FWC has ruled.
