Sydney Trains has been: ordered to reinstate a worker dismissed for testing positive to cocaine metabolites after returning from leave; and censured for failing to learn from previous criticisms of its approach to enforcing its drug and alcohol policy.
A worker was unfairly sacked, for damaging a client's Mercedes, by a decision maker who wrongly took her suggestion that certain WHS measures could have prevented the incident as an attempt to shift the blame, a commission has found.
An employer drove a pregnant worker to resign with its persistent and unreasonable insistence that she had to attend an independent medical examination (IME) before it could provide her with a "safe job", a commission has found, paving the way for her to seek an unfair dismissal remedy.
A court has rejected a worker's claim that her employer unlawfully threatened to lodge a workers' compensation claim, against her will, after she raised safety concerns affecting her mental health.
A worker's act of sharing offensive material with a group of colleagues on social media involved "abject stupidity", but his conduct was not sufficiently connected to his employment to warrant his dismissal, a Fair Work Commission full bench has found.
An appeals court has declined to create a "new category of duty" for employers, in overturning a psychologically injured worker's $1.4 million damages award for being subjected to a "sham" dismissal.
A court has rejected a CEO's claim that her employer engaged in a "witch hunt" to find reasons to sack her because she raised safety concerns at a board meeting. It also found that requiring her to obtain a medical certificate to show she was fit for work after she disclosed mental health issues did not constitute adverse action.
A commission had upheld the dismissal of a worker who, after being sent home early for fatigue-related issues, attended a music festival and then returned to the workplace behaving erratically.
An employer has been ordered to reinstate and compensate a worker it dismissed after he had spinal surgery, after an independent medical examiner's advice led to it wrongly concluding he could no longer perform his role safely.
A commission has upheld the dismissal of a worker for taking medicinal cannabis on his days off, finding his conduct was compounded by his failure to update his employer on his changing medicinal regime.