A maintenance fitter who made belittling Facebook comments about a Colleague was unfairly dismissed, the Fair Work Commission has ruled. The decision shows how procedural fairness obligations can be easily and unwittingly breached during the investigation process.
The Commissioner found the comments constituted misconduct but held dismissal was unfair because the Employer failed to disclose that it had partly relied on a report that found the Fitter's behaviour was having a negative effect across the workplace.Since the report was never put to the Fitter for a response, the Commissioner found there was significant procedural unfairness and he awarded more than $28,000 as compensation.
