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In hindsight an employer was imprudent not to compromise further to settle an employee's unfair dismissal claim, but its rejection of her final offer wasn't so unreasonable as to warrant a costs order, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.

In February 2022, the Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre sacked the specialist intervention services manager for breaching its procedure manual, alleging she erased client records stored on a work phone prior to giving it to another colleague to use.

But the policy's 'appropriate use of IT' clause was about 2,500 words long, and the policy had "no connection at all" with the employer's everyday practices regarding phones, Deputy President Michael Easton said, in ordering reinstatement along with backpay, calculated at 75% of the employee's lost remuneration over the preceding 13 months...