The FWC has taken a cautious approach in issuing an interim anti-bullying order restraining the co-owner and an employee of a retail business from belittling each other, suppressing identities amid "genuine health concerns" for both parties.
The FWC has taken into account that a legally-qualified Qantas ER manager with experience appearing before the tribunal is not a seasoned advocate, in granting the airline's application for legal representation to defend an anti-bullying claim.
A major charity has been granted permission to use external lawyers against a self-represented foster carer in a complex case the FWC says may have broad consequences for the anti-bullying jurisdiction.
The FWC has refused to issue an interim anti-bullying order against an employer that excluded a cleaner from a workplace Christmas celebration and refused to give her leave on Australia Day, but has criticised its "poor and clumsy" handling of the worker's complaints.
In a decision clarifying the degree to which workers can rely on their state of mind to justify late applications, the FWC has granted an extension to a cleaner "incapacitated" by stress after making serious allegations about her former colleagues.
An employee found to have made some "false" allegations has been denied the chance to use secret recordings of a meeting as evidence in a bullying case that is to be heard today by the FWC.
The FWC has thrown out a bullying claim from an employment consultant who felt aggrieved by his manager's approach to a colleague's "dad jokes" and accused his manager of sexually harassing him by touching his shoulder during a discussion about political correctness.
A public servant has failed to convince the FWC to let her to amend her bullying application to include the Australian Public Service Commissioner, alleging he dealt with her complaints against the head of a financial security agency in a "grossly unfair manner" and made "vexatious allegations".
A lawyer accused of bullying has failed to convince the Federal Court that it should stop a law firm from potentially expelling her as a partner because it treated her less favourably than male colleagues, the court holding that conduct that included an "inflammatory" letter following the complaints set her circumstances apart.
A senior FWC member has lamented the continuing "abuse" of the Commission's stop bullying jurisdiction in refusing to shield a casino employee from the consequences of conduct that included repeatedly spitting into a bin.