The majority of the High Court has ruled in favour of BHP Coal
and held that the employer did not take adverse action for a
prohibited reason when it dismissed an employee union delegate over
allegedly intimidating other workers by displaying a sign supplied
by the CFMEU at a union protest which read "No Principles
SCABS No Guts".
The Full Federal Court had found in favour of BHP Coal and
reversed an earlier Federal Court ruling in favour of the CFMEU and
the union delegate who had been terminated.
The CFMEU argued that the termination was due to the
employee/union delegate's participation in lawful industrial
activity - which is protected under the Fair Work Act 2009
(Cth).
The General Manager of BHP contended that the reasons for the
termination were the content of the union delegate's
communications with his fellow employees, the way in which he made
those communications and what that had conveyed about him as an
employee.
