The Federal Court has ordered a case be retried after finding the chair and temporary chief executive of a large charity were not afforded a chance to properly challenge a ruling that they conspired to oust a problematic finance team member caught up in divisive internal politics.
The FWC has cleared the way for a worker accused of "disruptive menace" and assaulting the chief executive to pursue a general protections claim against his former employer, holding it could not delegate to police the task of telling him he had been sacked.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a risk and compliance manager who refused to meet a vaccination deadline, dismissing her request for a risk assessment as irrelevant in the context of approved COVID-19 vaccines and public health orders.
"Diffuse" employment-related decision-making processes in sprawling corporations pose a particular challenge for those trying to establish they have been dismissed for prohibited reasons, according to a federal court judge.
A school counsellor sacked for failing to comply with COVID-19 mandates claims her principal emailed an IEU official to lament that she had sought direction from a "red" union instead of following his "excellent" advice.
The FWC has held that an aged care employer acted "prematurely" in dismissing an unvaccinated employee barred by state health orders from attending the workplace, finding no reason why he could not have continued to work from home as he had done for almost two years.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a chef despite scant evidence he made discriminatory remarks, finding his failure to follow a HR manager's instructions constituted a valid reason and WorkCover certificates from a "malleable" doctor severely compromised his credibility.
The FWC has reinstated a Gold Coast bus driver who ejected a passenger for telling her to "F-ck off Karen" after she implored him to wear his face mask properly, finding also that making a call on her smart watch did not breach the employer's mobile phone policy.
