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It was unfair to sack an employee who sent "extremely insulting" messages, which inadvertently ended up being viewed by his employer, the Fair Work Commission has found.

The fact the employee sent the messages outside of working hours and never intended for his manager to see them weighed in favour of his dismissal being found harsh, Commissioner Stephen Crawford said.

The project engineer had been working for Endacom on the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project for three-and-a-half years when he resigned in late October 2025, giving eight weeks' notice.

Earlier the same day, however, the employer viewed messages he'd sent in a WhatsApp group – comprising nine fellow engineers – that were insulting and offensive about his direct manager...