Log in or become a subscriber

The potential for an employee's behaviour in an airport lounge to cause "serious damage" to her work relationship meant she couldn't argue it was out-of-hours conduct unworthy of dismissal, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.

The Commission heard that in July 2023, when the fly-in fly-out production technician arrived at Brisbane airport for a flight to her shift, she had been drinking during the afternoon and was "extremely intoxicated".

Upon entering the lounge she obtained two more drinks and approached where a number of co-workers were gathered.

What happened next was the subject of dispute, but after receiving two formal complaints the employer, BHP subsidiary OS MCAP, investigated and found the employee had breached its company policies, specifically by sexually harassing two co-workers, and in December it dismissed her for serious misconduct...