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A chief people officer irritated by a manager's redeployment negotiations made a "snap decision" to make his role redundant, in breach of his general protections, the Federal Court has found.

The decision "reversed months of careful planning" for a workplace restructure, Justice Jane Needham found, and it made "no sense" unless it was effectively a "cover" for the manager's dismissal.

The case involved the port and operations manager of Svitzer Australia's Newcastle port.

In 2022, the employer decided to restructure its operations at the Newcastle port due to challenges posed by high turnover and low engagement.

Discussions began in early 2023, and after a number of restructure proposals the employer settled on removing the manager's role and creating a new set of leadership positions. (In all but the last of the proposals, the manager was always "at the top of the management tree"...)