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An employee's racist comments during a site-wide meeting warranted dismissal, but his employer's failure to notify him of its reasons before deciding to sack him was unfair, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.

"While I respect [the employer's] strong stance... due to the racial nature of the comments made, [he] is entitled to procedural fairness and was not afforded it," Commissioner Jessica Rogers said.

In July last year, Exclusive Contracting (WA) Pty Ltd sacked the ceiling fixer, on the basis he'd made inappropriate and racially offensive remarks about Chinese labour in the construction industry at a company toolbox meeting the day prior.

In unfair dismissal proceedings, the employee accepted that he'd said "in 10 years' time, it will be a Chinese industry" and, "employees were worried about our job security", in the context of a site-wide discussion about upcoming work and low morale...