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After being ordered to reinstate an employee sacked for physical violence, an employer has failed to convince a Fair Work Commission full bench that the earlier decision applied the wrong legal test for self-defence.

There was no appealable error in the prior decision; rather, the employer simply believed different conclusions should have been drawn from the primary factual material, the bench found.

The employer, Central Queensland Services, sacked the employee last year after he punched a colleague "multiple times".

In unfair dismissal proceedings in May, Deputy President Terri Butler found the employee's actions were "proportionate and reasonable" in the circumstances, and said the employer had taken a "very rigid" view regarding whether self-defence was ever warranted.

In a separate remedy decision she determined the employee should be reinstated to his former position from 15 July 2025, with continuity of service and $29k in backpay...