‘Years of immaculate service’: Manager alleges unfair dismissal without proper investigation

However, another current employee said working with her manager was “very intense” and described feeling belittled by the way she spoke to employees. The director argued that employees were increasingly reluctant to work with the manager, with some refusing shifts altogether.

The FWC explained: “I accept that (the director) reasonably believed that the reluctance of staff to work with (the worker) exposed another serious threat to the operation of the business as it was not possible to recruit new staff to work with (the worker) . worker) (for safety reasons) given what he knew then.”

While noting some procedural issues, the Commission stated, “The process (the employer) undertook was not perfect. For example, although the Show Cause Letter invited (the worker) to provide a response to the allegations, the cover email thanked him for his contribution, suggesting that a decision had already been made regarding his dismissal.”

The Commission emphasized: “This is not a conclusion that (the worker) committed serious misconduct. Again, the focus of the Code in relation to summary dismissal is on (the employer’s) reasonable belief that such conduct occurred, and not whether the conduct actually occurred.”

The Commission stated that the worker’s dismissal was consistent with the requirements, thus rejecting the worker’s complaint.