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It wasn't reasonable for an employer to rely on a manager's "eyewitness" account of a workplace assault, given he then "took absolutely no action, and continued on with the working day", a commissioner has ruled.

The employer's position, in defending its misconduct finding against an employee, "confounds logic" and simply couldn't be accepted, Queensland Industrial Relations Commissioner Samantha Pidgeon said.

The case involved a Queensland Health employee who was accused of punching a colleague in the arm, multiple times, during an altercation in May 2024.

In October 2025, a Department of Health manager substantiated the misconduct allegation. In her role as decision-maker, she proposed disciplinary action that included: ending the employee's secondment; reducing her pay; temporarily banning her from promotions; directing her to undertake workplace training; and reprimanding her...