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Allowing a disciplinary meeting to go ahead after learning that a manager accused of misconduct hadn't slept or eaten for three days wasn't "reasonable", a tribunal has ruled.

In the Personal Injury Commission of NSW, Member John Turner rejected that the employer shouldn't be criticised for continuing the meeting when the manager said she wished to go ahead, finding its unreasonable disciplinary process was a key cause of her ongoing incapacity for work.

It wasn't in dispute that the Builders Trade Centre store manager had sustained a psychological injury, but the employer argued she wasn't eligible for workers' compensation because the injury was wholly or predominantly caused by reasonable action regarding performance appraisal and/or discipline.

The manager named numerous contributing factors to her condition, but Member Turner found her injury was wholly or predominantly caused by the employer's actions regarding discipline, following its allegations that she had engaged in dishonest and fraudulent conduct...