After being ordered to reinstate an employee sacked for physical violence, an employer has failed to convince a Fair Work Commission full bench that the earlier decision applied the wrong legal test for self-defence.
The Fair Work Commission has rejected that an employee was unfairly dismissed for physically assaulting a coworker, despite flaws in the termination process and the overall harshness of the decision.
Ernst & Young has defended terminating a senior partner who was charged with assault after hours spent drinking with staff and clients, on the basis his conduct was likely to harm the firm's interests.
An employee has been chastised for "grasping at excuses for his unacceptable conduct", with the Fair Work Commission accepting he posed a "serious and imminent risk" to workplace health and safety and was fairly sacked.
Relying on complaints from seven years ago was "misconceived", the Fair Work Commission has ruled, in finding a worker accused of sexual misconduct should be reinstated.
Private workplace messages may well have been "venting", but in body-shaming a manager and encouraging gendered violence they were also inappropriate and warranted discipline, a commission has ruled.
Discussing a polyamorous lifestyle wasn't in itself a valid reason to sack an employee, however his conversations went beyond that, the Fair Work Commission has noted in upholding his dismissal.
The Fair Work Commission has stayed the reinstatement of an employee whose dismissal was unfair, while downplaying the employer's concerns about his potential impact on others in the workplace.
A stop-bullying order requiring mediation between an employee and his manager will stand, after the employer failed to persuade the Fair Work Commission to hear its appeal.
Aggressive and intimidating behaviour was not a valid response to performance management, the Fair Work Commission has found, ruling that the employee's conduct was detrimental to the wellbeing and safety of his colleagues and justified his 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.
