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Whether it's reasonable to contact an employee multiple times while they're on sick leave doesn't depend on whether the employer is aware they have a psychological condition, a tribunal has noted.

NSW Personal Injury Commission Member Jane Peacock heard the Imperial Tobacco Australia Limited territory sales manager was on his second day of a week's sick leave, for a respiratory illness, when the employer gave notice that it was suspending him with pay, and expected him to attend a disciplinary meeting the next day.

The employer's letter and an attached spreadsheet set out three categories of allegations: falsification or misrepresentation in his reporting; failures of honesty and accuracy when performing store duties; and inaccurate reporting of company time.

After agreeing to move the original date due to the manager's sick leave, the employer adjourned the meeting at his request after it had been going for more than 2.5 hours, as he was feeling "physically distressed" by what he described as "an intense bombardment" of questions, across "a variety of intersecting, detailed and very specific historical matters"...