TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – performance – s.394 Fair Work Act 2009 – application for unfair dismissal remedy – the applicant was the principal of a school – the applicant was dismissed after tensions arose in the relationship between staff and the applicant – one staff member resigned, and another was dismissed by the applicant – the Commission found that the effect of these two staff movements were incendiary – after the school’s Committee of Management (the Committee) met a number of times it resolved to terminate the applicant’s employment due to underperformance – the Commission found that the applicant was unfairly dismissed for a number of reasons – firstly her dismissal was unjust in that it was made without her having an opportunity to meaningfully respond to the proposition put to her by the Committee that her employment was no longer tenable – secondly the dismissal was unreasonable in that the Committee gave information to the school community that should have remained private – thirdly the dismissal was unreasonable in that the Committee made allegations to the applicant, said to be valid reasons for termination, which in all the circumstances were capricious or spiteful and which in any event were unfounded – fourthly, the dismissal was unreasonable in that the conduct of the Committee, after receiving the applicant’s response, was allowed to sit unattended to over the Christmas and New Year period with no information being given to the applicant as to why the Committee had delayed its decision or how long its decision would be delayed – inappropriate to reinstate the applicant – Commission held that compensation was appropriate however found that the post-termination payments made to the applicant exceeded the compensation that the Commission would have assessed – as such, no compensation was ordered. Martin v Beechworth Montessori Children’s Group Incorporated t/a Beechworth Montessori School
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