Three surprising unfair dismissal cases

Employers should be aware of three recent cases where employees were found to be unfairly dismissed in arguably surprising circumstances.

In Anderson v Thiess Pty Ltd [2014] FWC 6568, Mr Anderson was summarily dismissed for sending a work email that was highly offensive to persons of the Muslim faith. Despite finding that the email was in clear breach of Thiess' policies and had the potential to cause significant reputational damage to Thiess, the Fair Work Commission awarded Mr Anderson $28,000 in compensation on the basis that the dismissal was nonetheless harsh and unreasonable. The Commission found that:

• the dismissal was harsh because Mr Anderson was 65 years of age and would have difficulty obtaining other employment;