Fair Work Commission (FWC) vice-president Michael Lawler has resigned, ending a protracted legal stand-off. “Mr Lawler’s resignation from the Fair Work Commission commences with immediate effect.” Mr Lawler’s resignation came just 24 hours before he was due to respond to a report by former Federal Court Judge Peter Heeley into his conduct. That report was commissioned after Mr Lawler took sick leave for more than nine months, on his full $430,000 salary. During that time he helped his partner, former Health Services Union official Kathy Jackson, fight a Federal Court ruling that she misappropriated $1.4 million of union funds. In October, commission president Iain Ross told a Senate hearing he had approved 215 days of sick leave for Mr Lawler on the basis that he was medically unfit to perform his duties.
