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The Fair Work Commission has allowed a general protections dismissal claim to proceed against an organisation, despite it not directly employing the worker who alleges she was sacked at its direction.

This case acts as a reminder that "where an individual is dismissed by their employer, as a result of a direction from a host entity or third party, there can still be legal consequences for that non-employer," says Mallesons senior consultant Brett Feltham.

The employee was engaged by Valuable Consulting, which in turn contracted with managed service provider Team Downer, working for the Department of Defence.

(Her letter of engagement described her as a contractor, but Commissioner Alana Matheson accepted she was an employee of Valuable Consulting.)

In October 2025, just five weeks into her two-year fixed-term contract, Valuable Consulting informed the employee that Defence had asked for her to be removed from its site by midday the same day. In a follow-up email that evening, she was informed her contract had been terminated...