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It was reasonable not to award a sacked leader backpay along with her reinstatement, because she received a "very substantial" termination payment and made only "minimal efforts" to mitigate her loss, a Fair Work Commission full bench has ruled.

In appeal proceedings, the full bench acknowledged the primary decision-maker had made a significant error of fact regarding the employee's loss mitigation efforts. But it nonetheless found the backpay decision was "comfortably within the range of reasonable outcomes in this case".

The University of Melbourne professor, who was also the director of the Williams Centre for Learning Advancement, was sacked in February 2025 for serious misconduct.

She claimed unfair dismissal, but the employer defended its decision, pointing to her pattern of inappropriate behaviour and the "climate of fear" she created in the workplace...