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The Federal Court has rejected both the "bland explanation" an employee received for his dismissal and his employer's later argument that he was underperforming, finding instead that he was sacked for exercising a workplace right.

The employee's performance might have been a factor in the decision, according to Justice Darren Jackson, but the employer was also motivated by the non-dismissal general protections dispute he filed just days earlier.

In adverse action proceedings, the Court heard Broadway Homes initially engaged the sales manager between September 2019 and June 2021.

When that engagement ended he attempted to claim unfair dismissal, but the Fair Work Commission found it had no jurisdiction to deal with the matter as he had in fact been a contractor (read HR Daily's full report of that decision here). That finding, however, was overturned by a full bench a few months later...