In a landmark decision that will send tremors through the gig economy, the FWC has found that a former Foodora rider was an employee capable of being sacked, rather than an independent contractor as held by the delivery platform.
A judge accused of banging the bench and unreasonably dragging out a case involving a dismissed teacher has refused to recuse himself on the basis of apprehended bias, finding that the transcript and an "alarmingly small" range of available hearing dates pointed to a vastly different interpretation of events.
An FWC member has lambasted a council for numerous "missteps" in its dismissal of an Aboriginal night patrol officer, recommending it review its processes and advice received from an HR consultancy.
The FWC has spelt out the perils of supervisors expressing feelings for subordinates in a case where an engineer claimed she was unfairly dismissed after rejecting advances from a colleague who wanted to "get into her pants".
An employer has fended off an unfair dismissal claim by establishing that he did not sack a receptionist in a series of heated exchanges, but that she left based on her perception that he did.
The FWC has held that a supervisor's demotion to a job "on the tools" with a 9% pay cut was in fact a dismissal, rejecting employer submissions that it was allowed under his contract or via a "notorious" unwritten term.
In an important interlocutory ruling, the Federal Court has today restrained mining giant BHP Coal from stopping a reinstated labour hire mineworker returning to the job at its Bowen Basin coal mine.
A senior FWC member has upbraided a seasoned IR lawyer for speaking to employees of his large casino client during an unfair dismissal hearing, after it had been denied external legal representation.
A tribunal member has strongly rebuked a legal firm for its "unprofessional" behaviour in missing a deadline to file material, lamenting that unlike golf tee times, FWC directions cannot be changed "at a whim".
