TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – termination at initiative of employer – frustration of contract – s.394 Fair Work Act 2009 – application for relief from unfair dismissal – report by another staff member that applicant was going home during his night shift – applicant accused line manager of playing favourites in the selection of staff members – accusations were in front of other staff members in an intimidating manner and caused line manager significant embarrassment and stress – applicant sent emails to line manager which contained allegations about her conduct – line manager believed allegations to be unfounded and lodged grievance against applicant – applicant stood down pending investigation – applicant indicated he would not attend scheduled meeting unless various allegations raised were investigated – applicant failed to attend meeting and was subsequently informed in writing the respondent considered his actions a frustration of contract – respondent subsequently became aware the applicant was planning on moving interstate – respondent wrote to applicant on two occasions informing that if he did not advise them otherwise they would conclude he was abandoning his employment – applicant’s response was equivocal on both occasions – applicant subsequently informed by letter his employment would be treated as having come to an end by frustration of contract – respondent conceded applicant was not afforded procedural fairness – Commission found applicant was dismissed unfairly – applicant sought reinstatement – Commission found applicant’s conduct undermined the respondent’s trust and confidence in him – not satisfied relationship could be restored if applicant reinstated – applicant’s concession that he refused to attend investigation meeting and that he had lost respect for higher management suggests breakdown was mutual – Commission satisfied compensation appropriate to compensate applicant for respondent’s failure to provide procedural fairness – amount applicant earned since termination exceeded amount of compensation awarded – Commission found not appropriate for a contingency to be applied – satisfied no other matters which warrant an increase or reduction in amount of compensation to be ordered – no order for reinstatement or compensation appropriate. Ahmed v Southern Cross Care WA (Inc)
January 31, 2017
ENTERPRISE BARGAINING – single interest employer authorisation – s.248 Fair Work Act 2009 – application concerns 19 employers – new enterprise agreement to cover employees employed in public mental health services – authorisation to allow two or more single interest employers to bargain together – Commission satisfied that employers who will be covered by the proposed new enterprise agreement have freely agreed to bargain together. Victorian Hospitals’ Industrial Association
January 31, 2017
Affinity Health Pty Ltd & AME Properties Pty Ltd and Another is facing a s.372 (Application to deal with other contravention disputes) instigated by a staff member (Hill).
January 31, 2017
Bupa Aged Care Mosman is to face two s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) claims. Commissioner Riordan in the Fair Work Commission Terrace Tower 80 William Street East Sydney will hear Tavassoli and Govender at 10am today.
January 30, 2017
A paramedic has been charged with stealing prescription drugs in the NSW Riverina. Staff at an ambulance station within the Griffith local area command allegedly noticed several kits containing bottles of the anaesthetic methoxyflurane missing from a secure location on January 15. Police on Friday charged a 52-year-old paramedic with nine counts of stealing as a clerk or servant and one count of self-administering a restricted substance. He has been bailed to face Narrandera Court on March 24.
January 30, 2017
A s.365 (Application to deal with contraventions involving dismissal) by Andy Tan against the Pormpur Paanthu Aboriginal Corporation has been refused by Commissioner Saunders. Tan, together with his housemate Ms Laura Ramirez, gave evidence in support of his application for an extension of time. The respondent called for evidence from its Chief Executive Officer, Ms Ganthi Kuppusamy, and Senior Clinical Psychologist, Mr Marcin Ohl. The Fair Work Commissioner ruled that the application was not ‘exceptional’ and was ‘out of time’.
January 30, 2017
A Melbourne doctor who asked a vulnerable patient for sex while promising to help her get a disability pension has been allowed to keep practising despite a long history of serious complaints to regulators. The general practitioner is still treating patients without conditions on his registration, three and a half years after the latest allegations – and a damning string of text messages – were first brought to the attention of the Medical Board of Australia. A Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal panel recently found the female patient’s complaints against Glenroy-based Dr Hassan Alkazali were proven and constituted four counts of professional misconduct, with a determination on penalty due late next month. The panel accepted evidence that Dr Alkazali had asked the patient for sex over the phone and in dozens of text messages, and had tried to coach her on how to get a disability pension for schizophrenia, despite lacking evidence to reasonably believe she was schizophrenic. The text messages, reproduced in VCAT’s findings, show the doctor had responded to questions about the status of the patient’s pension application with: “But good dr needs good girl to play with.”
January 30, 2017
A Mosgiel woman swindled her ailing father and intellectually disabled brother out of $65,000 while she was supposed to be caring for them. Her father, before he died in August 2015, told one of his sons he suspected she was stealing from him but the son convinced him she would never do that. When he died, the truth came out. Judith Gale McMahon (52) appeared before the Dunedin District Court this week, after admitting three representative counts of theft. She had been granted interim name suppression until this week’s sentencing, when Judge Michael Crosbie refused an application to keep her identity under wraps permanently.
