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An employee's out-of-hours misconduct wasn't a "trivial instance of drunken frivolity", but rather a serious event that could have damaged an employer's reputation, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in upholding his dismissal.

In November last year, the Paramount Liquor warehouse assistant went to a bar in Newtown, Sydney in the early hours of the morning, where he allegedly asked for free drinks and, when the bar manager refused, started "throwing threats around of delaying invoices and orders".

The bar manager reported the incident to the employer later that morning, stating the "lad needs to lose his job".

When the employee attended for work a few days later, the employer notified him of the complaint; he admitted to requesting free drinks but denied threatening to withhold or delay liquor deliveries as retaliation for being refused...