A senior FWC member has laid out the tribunal's arsenal for dealing with those who try to coerce or engage in disorderly or vexatious conduct after a worker accused his employer's lawyer of perjury, deception and having unclean hands in connection with "dirty deeds for the dark overlords".
A four-member FWC full bench has overturned the reinstatement of a long-serving train driver sacked after he divulged he faced criminal charges for high-range drink driving, ruling that a presidential member failed to properly consider the connection between his out-of-hours conduct and his safety-critical job.
A full Federal Court has cleared the way for a police officer injured while on duty to argue the NSW police commissioner acted in a discriminatory manner in demoting then medically discharging him.
In an important ruling on the NSW IRC's jurisdictional powers, the High Court has found that a since-repealed provision did not prevent the State tribunal considering a police officer's unfair dismissal case that challenged his forced retirement on medical grounds.
A university professor who won reinstatement after being sacked for being "s-xually intimate" with a student during a naked swim has failed to have his and his employer's names removed from the FWC's published decision, despite his concerns the case will attract extra publicity because he is a namesake of the Australian Prime Minister.
In a decision underlining the responsibility of workers to keep their contact details up to date, a senior FWC member has refused an unvaccinated worker's bid for a one-day extension to challenge his sacking by email on the basis he did not get the message.
The FWC has acknowledged the "minefield" faced by employers hiring workers with criminal records, in a decision upholding a supermarket chain's dismissal of an employee who objected to working alongside a s-x offender.
The FWC has despite claims of innocence upheld the sacking of an experienced school crossing supervisor who asked to touch an after-school program worker's hair before making "s-xually demeaning" comments.
The FWC has commended a young solicitor's "candour" in admitting to having fumbled the unfair dismissal application of an unvaccinated foster care worker told her temporary WFH arrangement could not be sustained.
