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A manager should have realised that a $2.2 million offer to settle his long-running adverse action case was the best outcome he could realistically expect, the Federal Court has commented, in making a costs order against him.

At the time of the employer's offer, the "inherent weakness" of the manager's claims was objectively clear, following his "disastrous" cross-examination during retrial, Justice Shaun McElwaine said.

As reported by HR Daily late last year, Justice McElwaine rejected that TechnologyOne's Victorian regional manager was unlawfully dismissed after he made bullying complaints. Rather, he accepted the CEO had "multiple reasons" to sack him – including a "damning assessment" of morale and employee relations at his site – and none were related to his workplace rights.

The case has a complex history. In October 2020, Federal Court Justice Duncan Kerr upheld the manager's claim, describing his dismissal as "brutal" and awarding him more than $5.2m in damages and compensation (read HR Daily's report of that decision here)...