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An employee made "unparticularised, untrue and potentially defamatory allegations" against her manager in a bid to stop her performance management process, the Federal Circuit Court has found.

Her "occupational violence" complaint wasn't made in good faith; rather it was "for an ulterior or extraneous purpose", and therefore it didn't constitute a workplace right under section 341 of the Fair Work Act, Judge Karl Blake said in rejecting the employee's adverse action claim.

"[The employee] deliberately invoked exaggerated and heightened language in aid of her cause to bring the performance management process to a halt by casting unfounded slurs against those simply trying to do their jobs," he said.

The employee started working for the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning as a senior program coordinator in November 2022, but was dismissed for poor performance shortly before her probation ended in May 2023...