Misinterpretation of "curt or abrupt" messages between a remote manager and worker and "unhelpful" accusations of "frivolous and vexatious" complaints did not amount to bullying, but the manager might have needed support to better supervise his remote team, the FWC has found.
A FWC member has permitted an anti-bullying hearing to go ahead despite her concerns that the worker and her representative misled the tribunal when they denied that the worker had accepted a job offer.
In a decision delving deeply into the statutory definition of bullying, a senior FWC member has observed that allowances should be made for "some degree of exasperation or tension" between managers and those they supervise.
The FWC has waved through a former company director's late unfair dismissal claim after accepting evidence that the deadline fell on the same day as her treatment for a heart condition allegedly exacerbated by her ex-husband "vengefully terminating" her employment.
Former Toll subsidiary Team Global Express has avoided anti-bullying orders through the resignation of a perpetrator and taking significant measures to remove the risk of further substandard conduct, but the FWC has called on it to address a "failure of local leadership".
An "openly gay" head chef sacked for allegedly molesting female co-workers has won $16,000 compensation, after the FWC found it "more than coincidental" that his employer decided that s-xual harassment provided a valid reason for summary dismissal before it emailed employees a survey full of loaded questions.
An accountant has won a rare interim anti-bullying order after the FWC agreed her employer "inappropriately" bypassed her lawyers by directly emailing a request that she attend a disciplinary meeting the following day.
The income and compensation caps for unfair dismissal claims are set to increase on Saturday, along with filing fees for a range of other applications.
The AFP has won the right to be represented by an external lawyer in a "complex" anti-bullying case involving at least 18 witnesses to be heard by the FWC in a fortnight.
A senior FWC member accused of trying to intimidate a company director during conciliation, descending into the arena of advocacy and stating that he engaged in sexual harassment has refused to recuse herself from hearing an anti-bullying claim against him.
