A tribunal member who reinstated a transit officer sacked for spraying a minor with capsicum spray should have given greater weight to his past conduct and the viability of re-establishing an employment relationship, a full bench has found.
The FWC has reinstated a worker after highlighting that her employer might have conducted unlawful covert video surveillance and that its HR department mishandled her dismissal.
An employer treated a long-serving worker like a "dirty rag" when it sacked her for an alleged incapacity to meet her job's inherent requirements, the FWC has found in what it describes as an "ignominiously memorable" case that provides a "strong foundation for argument against any lessening" of unfair dismissal protections.
The FWC has expressed "surprise" at the HR practices of a major courier company that dismissed a depot manager who was partially responsible for a breach of a worldwide embargo on a new JK Rowling book and was the subject of unfounded bullying allegations.
The FWC has slammed an employer for "behaviour of the shabbiest type" when it "de-rostered" an employee and cancelled his 457 visa sponsorship application because he asked to be paid his minimum lawful entitlements.
A Coca-Cola employee who threatened to fight a colleague in the workplace carpark and made coarse gestures suggesting he was a company stooge has lost his unfair dismissal bid.
An FWC full bench has granted an employee who mistakenly lodged a general protections application instead of an unfair dismissal claim an extension of time because the Commission should have used its discretion to rectify the mistake.
The FWC has found a vessel operator's decision to sack an experienced captain for breaching its zero-tolerance alcohol policy was harsh in the circumstances, arguing that it bore some responsibility for unresolved matters that affected his mental health and could have imposed less punitive penalties.
The FWC has reinstated a nurse dismissed while recovering from a serious car accident and a work-related needle-stick injury, expressing "dismay" at the hospital's failure to inquire about her ability to return to her previous role.
A bank manager who turned up for work five days after being fired with immediate effect has had her unfair dismissal claim rejected on the basis that she fell marginally short of the minimum six month employment period required by the Act.
