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An employer yet to face penalties for breaching an employee's general protections has convinced the Federal Court to hear an appeal against findings made about its decision-making process.

Justice Shaun McElwaine accepted that at an "impressionistic level", there was "sufficient doubt" about the correctness of the primary judge's decision, which hinged on her perception of a lack of evidence from a key decision-maker.

In June this year, Federal Circuit Court Judge Amanda Mansini found that Services Australia suspended and dismissed an employee in December 2023 because he'd exercised his workplace right to complain about racial vilification, and because of his race.

The Indigenous employee had worked for Services Australia for just 32 days, during which time he made numerous complaints to HR, including that a colleague had called him "poofter", "Abo" and "molester"...