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General protections breaches "should never be treated as an acceptable risk of doing business", a Federal Circuit Court judge has stressed, in awarding about $90k to "a most difficult and challenging employee".

Acknowledging the employee's "insolent and pernicious behaviour" had rendered an ongoing employment relationship untenable, Judge Jonathan Forbes nonetheless found her employer had used "an unconvincing corporate restructure" as the premise for her dismissal, and ordered penalties reflecting a "clear need for general deterrence".

The long-running case involved a Southern Migrant and Refugee Centre finance team leader, whose role was made redundant in June 2017. At the time, she had been absent on stress leave for several months.

She lodged an adverse action claim, arguing she was really dismissed for making workplace complaints, and in a 2020 ruling Judge Heather Riley found the employer's newly-appointed CEO and the chair of its board had "conspired" to get rid of her...