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An employee who believed she worked "efficiently and competently" has lost her adverse action claim, with the Federal Circuit Court finding she was lawfully sacked for her ongoing defiance of authority.

Judge Antoni Lucev found the employee lacked insight into her obligations to "abide by perfectly ordinary and lawful instructions", and had an "inflated" opinion of her own abilities.

The Department of Defence contracts officer was sacked in October 2020 for misconduct. She subsequently claimed the employer breached the Fair Work Act when it, among other things, unreasonably refused her flexible work request, unlawfully dismissed her, and failed to provide her three weeks' notice, or payment in lieu.

Regarding her flexible work argument, the Court heard that in October 2019, the employee requested to change her start time to 930am. While her team had agreed on a 9am start time, it was her "personal preference" to start later and minimise her risk of arriving late due to traffic...