Tuesday, 31 May 2016

Gun mistake not grounds for summary dismissal


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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