An injured Qantas baggage handler who sought a review under state workers compensation law of a rehabilitation plan that would have transferred him to a new employer was not prevented by the Fair Work Act's "multiple actions" provisions from pursuing a federal unfair dismissal claim, a full bench of the FWC has ruled.
A senior member of the Fair Work Commission has reinstated a Coles forklift driver who was involved in a fight with a colleague, finding his dismissal harsh given his good record over 18 years of employment and his relatively passive role in the altercation.
A Toll subsidiary was justified in dismissing a Gorgon fuel terminal officer for falsifying a safety document, despite the fact that he was instructed to do so by a company OHS advisor, the Fair Work Commission has found.
The need for employers to consider the individual circumstances of employees taking industrial action before they institute disciplinary action has been demonstrated in a FWC finding that a company unfairly dismissed a crane driver who belatedly joined an unlawful stop-work meeting.
Pacific National was justified in sacking a long-serving train driver who was 120 seconds away from colliding with another train, after failing to see and respond to two signals, the Fair Work Commission has found.
A senior FWC member has strongly endorsed legal representation of parties in hearings, saying that with the rise of self-representation, the involvement of legal practitioners is "more often than not, a welcome relief".
The Fair Work Commission has upheld the RSPCA's dismissal of an executive manager for leaking to the media, providing confidential documents to his union and undermining his chief executive, describing his conduct as "reprehensible" and "duplicitous".
A Fair Work Commission full bench has ruled that it was not unreasonable for a global industrial software company to retrench an Australian technical project manager with one day's notice instead of redeploying him to an overseas position, overturning a deputy president's decision that his dismissal was unfair.
A NSW public servant who admitted touching the breasts of five women during a 2012 Christmas party has won his job back after the NSW IRC found he was treated more harshly than a senior manager who was only demoted.
Zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policies are back in the spotlight following the FWC's decision to reinstate a ship's master who crashed his ferry into a Sydney Harbour wharf 16 hours after smoking marijuana at home to relieve shoulder pain.
