In a decision exploring when employers can be said to have repudiated employment contracts, the FWC has ruled that a multinational dismissed a worker when it "unilaterally" withdrew his company car without compensation following a collision with a kangaroo.
A government agency has been ordered to reinstate a worker dismissed a year after it attributed a workplace vehicle collision to "human error", the FWC finding it had produced no further evidence to warrant the change of heart.
The FWC has reinstated a bacon worker, after holding it was not threatening to say she felt like knocking a colleague off her perch, while finding the employer contributed to their stress, denied her procedural fairness and had a tendency to exaggerate evidence.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a traffic management supervisor who allegedly directed his union representative to ask for $50,000 to "go away quietly" after the employment relationship was soured by his refusal to be on-call on weekends.
A full bench has overturned an extension of time, originally granted on the basis of his union's representative error, for a truck driver summarily sacked by Coles Supermarkets after testing positive for methamphetamine and cannabinoids.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a finance broker who posted sexually-explicit Facebook memes, including one featuring a colleague after seeking her permission, finding a "robust" and sub-par workplace culture did not make his ousting unfair.
The FWC has upheld the dismissal of a 52-year-old Victorian secondary teacher who "crossed the line" when he hugged and touched boys, despite also finding his employer did not follow the disciplinary procedures set out in its enterprise agreement.
In a decision highlighting both the perils of "naïve" social media use and the incongruities of the JobKeeper program, the FWC has declined to award compensation to a teenage casual swim instructor unfairly sacked for recommending a rival business on a community Facebook page.
An employer has convinced the FWC that a mineworker found to have been unfairly sacked over a safety failure should not be reinstated because it had lost trust and confidence in him.