A manager's fixation on workplace bullying meant he overlooked his employer's financial reasons for dismissing him as part of a leadership overhaul, the Federal Circuit Court has ruled, in rejecting his adverse action claim.
A general protections claimant can't proceed with her action against an employer she hadn't begun working for, after the Fair Work Commission found the parties had entered a binding contract, but there wasn't yet an employment relationship capable of being terminated.
Accepting an employee's resignation without clarifying a misunderstanding about her role amounted to a constructive dismissal, the Fair Work Commission has found.
Being sacked for serious misconduct after regularly complaining of workplace bullying and harassment would have made a manager feel like "a grave injustice had been perpetrated", the Federal Circuit Court has accepted in adverse action proceedings.
The Federal Circuit Court has ordered an employee to pay $125k of his employer's legal costs, finding his actions during general protections proceedings were "so manifestly unreasonable, there must be consequences".
A recent general protections penalty decision contains three major lessons for employers about this "different beast" of a regime, according to a workplace lawyer.
A manager should have realised that a $2.2 million offer to settle his long-running adverse action case was the best outcome he could realistically expect, the Federal Court has commented, in making a costs order against him.
Resigning may well have been the right decision for an employee who didn't trust HR to take her workplace complaints seriously, according to the Fair Work Commission, but this didn't mean the employer's conduct forced her hand.
An employer that failed to take any steps to review its procedures after a court found it engaged in unlawful adverse action has been ordered to pay an employee $30k in compensation and penalties.
General protections claims are the fastest-growing category of applications in the Fair Work Commission, with reforms now underway to stem the tide. This webinar will discuss important developments in both procedural issues and case law.
