Employer Found to Dismiss Employee Due to
Disability
In April 2019, we published an
article on the Federal Court decision of Robinson v Western
Union Business Solutions (Australia) Pty Ltd [2018] FCA 1913.
The Federal Court found the employee was dismissed due to his
disability.
This decision was appealed to the
Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia who set aside the
earlier Federal Court decision. The Full Court held that the
reasons for termination, being a failure to attend independent
medical assessment and concerns about return to work did not breach
s351(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009.
FACTS IN THIS CASE
Mr Robinson had not attended work for seven months due to his
mental illness. He could not indicate to Western Union when he
would be fit to return to work and refused to attend an independent
medical assessment arranged by Western Union. Based on these
failures and a genuine belief by the employer that Mr Robinson was
not unwell, Western Union
