Log in or become a subscriber

Confrontational behaviour that prompted an employee's dismissal was not a "one-off incident", the Fair Work Commission has found, in ruling that his history of disruptive and challenging conduct rendered the decision fair.

Commissioner Susie Allison accepted the employee didn't intentionally threaten a coworker with a knife, but said his conduct was nonetheless "inappropriate and unreasonable" and posed a "safety risk in the confined space of a kitchen".

The casual chef had worked in Bentleigh RSL's kitchen for nine months when he was sacked for misconduct in April this year. In unfair dismissal proceedings the employer also relied on operational reasons, stating that a downturn in business meant it no longer had work for him to perform.

The employee claimed his conduct didn't warrant termination, and that the employer's operational reason had no merit as "there was always work to be done in the kitchen"...