Browsing: WHS decisions (National) | Page 10

A worker has unsuccessfully claimed his brother and his employer took unlawful adverse action against him for making workplace complaints, with a court finding the company was forced to take action when a dispute between the "warring" brothers started to affect the health and safety of staff.

The Federal Court has overturned a finding that two union officials made homophobic slurs towards a project's safety advisor. The Court reduced their pecuniary penalties, but confirmed they "deliberately" breached the site's WHS requirements.

A worker who claimed she was fired for exercising her workplace rights, under health and safety laws, has had her adverse action claim denied, with a court finding she was terminated for performance and disciplinary issues.

The Federal Court has increased a damages award by more than $200,000 for a worker, now in his 70s, who suffered a psychiatric injury from feeling pressured to retire. However, it rejected the worker's claim his employer's actions involved a work health and safety breach.

• "Swearing" constituted unsafe workplace harassment; and
  
• Workplace safety fraudsters face big fines under rail amendments.

A superior court has quashed a decision acquitting a worker of recklessly contributing to a fatal crushing, ruling that the requisite test for a guilty verdict was whether the worker foresaw it was possible, rather than probable, that a death would occur.

The Fair Work Commission has upheld the dismissal of a financial adviser who refused to take a drug and alcohol test after turning up to work showing signs of intoxication.

A Federal judge has found that selecting a worker for redundancy after he raised multiple workplace concerns, including safety issues surrounding unlicensed work, constituted unlawful adverse action. The judge found the man's employer deliberately marked his performance down to justify his termination.

A commissioner has criticised a major employer's "tick and flick" training on its safety and conduct policies, but stressed that workers should not need a training course to know when certain actions are wrong, in unfair dismissal rulings involving members of a Facebook group sharing explicit materials.

A worker who was sacked after using both self-defence and unnecessary force to restrain a violent client has been awarded compensation, with a commission finding he wasn't alerted to an internal appeals process prior to his dismissal.