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An HR manager's criticism of an employee's "unprofessional behaviour" towards her was misplaced, with the Federal Circuit Court finding most of their interactions were "perfectly ordinary".

The Mondiale VGL truck driver was dismissed in December 2019 over safety breaches and unprofessional behaviour, but he claimed the employer took unlawful adverse action against him for exercising his workplace rights to make complaints about his employment.

The Court heard that earlier in the year, the employee had allegedly failed to stop at a 'stop line' and radio a forklift driver when he entered the yard, and had damaged an A-frame trailer and jockey wheel, but he denied responsibility for both incidents.

Rather, he claimed he was dismissed because he'd: complained about being overlooked for flexible work arrangements; questioned whether shift loadings were correctly paid; and challenged the employer about not participating in a dispute resolution process with him...