TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – misconduct – s.394 Fair Work Act 2009 – applicant was terminated for serious misconduct – applicant sent email containing offensive language to Head Statistician at Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – email sent from applicant’s work email address and contained respondent’s logo and applicant’s signature – ABS made a complaint about the email to respondent – five days later applicant sent a further email containing offensive language from his work email address to Head Statistician at ABS and four external recipients including a federal politician – respondent conducted investigation and concluded that applicant’s actions breached of University’s Code of Conduct and policies and constituted serious misconduct warranting summary dismissal – applicant’s employment was governed by the Murdoch University Enterprise Agreement 2014 (the Agreement) which provided that termination of employment can only occur in the case of serious misconduct – applicant submitted that there was no valid reason for dismissal on basis that the conduct did not involve serious misconduct and the investigation was flawed – respondent submitted that applicant had previously received a written warning regarding an email he sent to work colleague containing inappropriate content – respondent submitted that the two emails to ABS damaged University’s reputation with ABS – respondent submitted that conduct was wilful and deliberate – found sending of the emails valid reason for dismissal – found misconduct constituted use of language that was vulgar and offensive and was contained in an email identifying respondent and applicant’s role – found applicant’s conduct breached of respondent’s Code of Conduct and Email and Electronic Messaging Guidelines – found actions of applicant also satisfied meaning of serious misconduct as defined under the Agreement – found misconduct was wilful and constituted serious impediment to carrying out of applicant’s duties and had potential to cause an imminent and serious risk to reputation of respondent – application dismissed. Hayes v Murdoch University
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