An Australian champion clay
shooter, who had Senator David Leyonhjelm as his support person at the meeting
to discuss his future employment was found to have been fairly dismissed but
entitled to notice: Waters v Goodyear
Australia Pty Limited [2016] FWC 1991.
Mr Waters breached a number of his employers’
policies when he acquiesced in a person whom he was mentoring in clay shooting
bringing a gun into the vicinity of his workplace.
After a comprehensive
investigation, the employer found that Mr Waters’ actions constituted serious
misconduct.
Whilst Commissioner Cambridge
agreed that Mr Waters had breached the trust and confidence inherent in the
employment relationship to a degree to warrant dismissal he was not satisfied
that Mr Waters had set out deliberately to do so in the incident giving rise to
his dismissal.
As his employment contract provided
for four weeks notice, Mr Waters was awarded compensation for that period.
The case also suggests that the way
in which a support person acts at a meeting can affect a finding on the degree
to which the employment relationship has broken down and cannot be retrieved.
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