An employer has failed to prove that it didn't dismiss a worker when it repeatedly refused her requests for part-time work after a period of parental leave.
It was retaliatory and "cold-hearted" of an HR manager to ask an absent employee to attend meetings, and to repeatedly deny his requests for annual leave after his sick leave ran out, the Federal Circuit Court has found in upholding his adverse action claim.
Sacking an employee seven years after he sent "intimate" messages to a subordinate was warranted, but his otherwise unblemished record made the dismissal harsh, the Fair Work Commission has found in ordering his reinstatement.
In granting a stay of a reinstatement order, the Fair Work Commission has ruled that an employee should receive what he would have earned if he returned to work, without any requirement to repay the money if his employer's appeal succeeds.
An employer that stopped rostering a casual worker after she lodged a stop-bullying application effectively sacked her, according to the Fair Work Commission, meaning it now has to face her general protections claim.
An employee who "hijacked" a meeting and then resigned in the heat of the moment has lost his unfair dismissal claim, after the Fair Work Commission accepted he engaged in serious misconduct that warranted termination.
After being on restricted duties for nearly seven years, an employee who claimed she might be fit to perform her pre-injury role "at some time in the future" has lost her unfair dismissal claim.
It was fair to summarily dismiss a worker who refused to change behaviour that reflected badly on his employer, even though the termination process was flawed, the Fair Work Commission has accepted.
"Numerous and significant" mitigating factors meant that despite her "brutal public humiliation" of another worker, a long-serving employee has successfully appealed against her proposed dismissal.
Costly legal disputes continue to highlight the many risks employers face when managing, disciplining, or dismissing employees while they are absent, injured or incapacitated. Attend this webinar for an up-to-date review of the legal framework applying to workplace absenteeism, injury and incapacity, and lessons from recent case law.
