Unfair dismissal and employment contract: Baird v Crowe Horwath (Aust) Pty Ltd [2016] FFCA 1379
The Federal Circuit Court found termination without notice can be valid where the employee commits a serious breach of their employment contract.
Recent Cases
Victimisation: Fire Brigade Employees Union of NSW v Fire and Rescue NSW 2016] NSWIRComm 1024
The Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales dismissed an application for relief from victimisation after finding the disciplinary action faced by an employee was not due to his political activity but rather a failure to serve the government in a politically neutral manner.
Partnership dispute: Wang v Rong [2015] NSWSC 1419
The Supreme Court of New South Wales ruled that partners to a franchise coffee shop were not required to spend the same amount of time working in the business because of the method and terms used to distribute the profits.
Natural justice and procedural fairness: Sharp v National Rugby League Ltd [2016] NSWSC 730
The Supreme Court of New South Wales found that procedural fairness and natural justice did not make a suspension invalid because the suspended parties had agreed to rules that excluded these duties.
Adverse action claim: Perez v Northern Territory Department of Correctional Services [2016] FCA 476
The Federal Court of Australia set aside an order made by the Federal Circuit Court after finding a recommendation to not continue the employment of a Prison Officer in Training constituted adverse action.
Unfair Dismissal and Legal Professional Privilege: Kirkman v DP World Melbourne Limited [2016] FWC 605
An appeal to gain access to documents was denied after the Fair Work Commission ruled the documents were protected by legal professional privilege and this privilege had not been waived.
Unfair dismissal: Alexis King v D.C Lee & L.J Lyons [2016] FWC 1664
A woman whose employment as a solicitor was terminated for repeated unexplained absences, which resulted from domestic violence, was awarded $11,064.28 in compensation after the Fair Work Commission found the dismissal was unfair.
Shared health and safety duty: Boland v Trainee and Apprentice Placement Service Inc [2016] SAIRC 14
The Industrial Relations Court found Trainee and Apprentice Placement Service Inc had a shared health and safety duty to their employee after placing him with a host employer and was fined $12,000 for failing to uphold this duty.
General Protections: Fair Work Ombudsman v AIMG BQ Pty Ltd and Anor [2016] FCCA 1024
AIMG BQ Pty Ltd was ordered to pay $272,850 in pecuniary penalties and the director of the company was ordered to pay $8,160 in pecuniary penalties by the Federal Circuit Court of Australia for denying two employees minimum entitlements.
Discrimination, reasonable adjustments and workplace injury: Butterworth v Independence Australia Services (Human Rights) [2015] VCAT 2056 (22 December 2015)
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal awarded a woman $3,325.25 for economic loss and $10,000 for non-economic loss after her employment was terminated due to a workplace injury and a failure to make reasonable adjustments.
Bullying: Gaylene May McDonald [2016] FWC 300
The Fair Work Commission has found that a volunteer and artist who assisted in a small community based not for profit art gallery is unable to bring a bullying application against the gallery after it was found that she was not a “worker”.
Ordinary and customary turnover of labour: Compass Group (Australia) Pty Ltd v National Union of Workers; United Firefighters’ Union of Australia [2015] FWCFB 8040
The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has overturned an earlier decision regarding the definition of “ordinary and customary turnover of labour”, finding that a group of workers were not entitled to receive redundancy pay.
Sexual harassment and bullying: Mathews v Winslow Constructors (Vic) Pty Ltd [2015] VSC 728
The Supreme Court of Victoria has awarded an employee over $1.3 million in damages after finding that her employer was negligent in failing to provide a safe working environment and allowing her to be subjected to extensive abuse, sexual harassment and bullying by her colleagues.
DP World Melbourne Limited [2015] FWC 8235 (27 November 2015)
The Fair Work Commission has held an Enterprise Agreement to be invalid due to formal deficiencies in the application process.
Sick leave and general protections: Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union v Anglo Coal (Dawson Services) Pty Ltd [2015] FCAFC 157
A Court has recently found that a company did not take adverse action by dismissing an employee who threatened to take sick leave after having his annual leave request denied.
Adverse action: Kubat v Northern Health [2015] FCCA 3050
The Federal Circuit Court of Australia has found that a Turkish interpreter working in a hospital and suffering from depression was not subject to unlawful adverse action because of her mental disability.
Civil Penatlies: Commonwealth of Australia v Director, Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate; Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union v Director, Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate [2015] HCA 46 (9 December 2015)
The High Court of Australia has ruled that courts may consider civil penalties that have been agreed and proposed by parties.
Disciplinary Action over ruled: CFMEU v MSS Strategic Medical Pty Ltd; MSS Security Pty Ltd
The Fair Work Commission has ordered MSS to remove a disciplinary warning from an employee’s records after a dispute was lodged under the workplace enterprise agreement.
Unfair Dismissal: Ranui Parahi v Parmalat Australia Ltd [2015] FWC 7191
The dismissal of a fork-lift truck driver for being overweight has been held to be not unfair by the Fair Work Commission.
Employer liability and Compensation: Garrett and Comcare (Compensation) [2015] AATA 801
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has found the Commonwealth liable to pay compensation to an employee, after they suffered a stroke whilst showering in a hotel on a business trip.