EMPLOYEES – DISMISSAL OF – AUSTRALIA

New whistleblower protections could hit senior CFMEU officials

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 19-Dec-16

Former Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union organisers Andrew Quirk and Brian Miller are continuing to challenge their sacking after revealing in 2014 that the union’s New South Wales branch had links to an underworld figure. They are being represented by lawyer Chris McArdle, who argues that they would have had much greater protection if the Federal Government’s new whistleblower laws had been in place at the time of their dismissal.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, SEYFARTH SHAW LLP

Buck doesn’t stop with top execs

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 25 : 11-Nov-16

When the CEOs of Australia’s four major banks appeared before an economics committee in October 2016 they revealed that no senior executives have been sacked over scandals that have plagued the sector. National Australia Bank has sacked 43 financial planners, while Westpac has sacked 139 of the 885 employees it has investigated for potential breaches of its code of conduct. Meanwhile, just 16 of the employees that have been dismissed by the Commonwealth Bank were executive managers.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMINSURE, AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

BHP Coal ordered to reinstate miner after scab comment

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 29-Sep-16

The Fair Work Commission has ruled that BHP Billiton’s coal division must reinstate an employee at its Saraji mine in Queensland, who was sacked for using the word "scab". A mine manager had argued that the use of the word "scab" was much worse in the industrial relations context than using certain swear words in the workplace.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Rio miner bullied for working too hard

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 13-Sep-16

The Fair Work Commission has dismissed an unfair dismissal claim by an employee at Rio Tinto’s Mount Thorley coal mine in the Hunter Valley. The employee and a colleague were sacked over allegations that they had bullied another employee, while a third man was reprimanded. Their victim has claimed that they believed that he was working too hard during his shifts. Although he did not make a formal complaint about the bullying, Rio Tinto took action after the three men attempted to box in their victim’s car on a highway.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Writer of accidental ‘dick’ text sacked

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 10-Apr-15

The Fair Work Commission has rejected an unfair dismissal claim brought by a woman who was sacked for insulting her employer. Louise Nesbitt inadvertently sent a derogatory text message to Dragon Mountain Gold chairman and MD Rob Garder, in which she called him a "complete dick". She had meant to send the message to her daughter’s boyfriend, who was to undertake plumbing work in the company’s office

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, DRAGON MOUNTAIN GOLD LIMITED – ASX DMG

Foul-mouthed truckie firing ‘unfair’

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Original article by Lucille Keen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 20-Feb-15

Australia’s Fair Work Commission (FWC) has upheld an Aussie Waste Management employee’s claim that his dismissal for swearing at the managing director was unlawful. The garbage truck driver was summarily dismissed after using offensive language during a private telephone conversation with the executive. FWC deputy president Nicole Wells noted that swearing in some workplace’s is quite common in 2015, adding that the phone call was private and not overhead by other staff

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSSIE WASTE MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE, K&L GATES LLP

Sacked man loses $42m claim

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Original article by Tim Clarke
The West Australian – Page: 9 : 29-Sep-14

The Federal Court of Australia has ruled in favour of Woodside Petroleum in a unfair dismissal action by a former employee. Hassan Zaghloul sought more than $A42m in damages after claiming that he had been bullied and harassed during his tenure as the LNG group’s principal structural engineer. He has also accused lawyers involved in the case of professional misconduct

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Deutsche fires rogue forex trader

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Original article by Bianca Hartge-Hazelman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 22-Sep-14

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority will look into the actions of a "rogue" foreign exchange trader. Deutsche Bank dismissed Andy Donaldson in June 2014 after he was found to have been overstating foreign exchange trades, resulting in large losses for his employer. There have been similar scandals at Deutsche’s international operations

CORPORATES
DEUTSCHE BANK AG, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, BARCLAYS BANK PLC, THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED, ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC, UBS AG

Canadian bank axes analysts in Newcrest fiasco

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 26-Jun-14

Newcrest Mining has agreed to pay a penalty of $A1.2m for selectively briefing analysts in late May 2013. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission told the Federal Court that the company breached its continuous disclosure obligations by not informing the wider market as well of its downgraded gold output figures, but the analysts were not to blame. However, Geoff Breen and Michael Orphanides as well as head of research Peter Main departed Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in mid-2013, soon after it received the inside knowledge from Newcrest. The investment bank has declined to comment

CORPORATES
NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE AG, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, COLONIAL HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED – ASX CNG, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL

Social media boo-boos: a how not to

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Original article by Kamal Farouque
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 25-Jun-14

Opera Australia terminated a contract with Georgian opera singer Tamar Iveri over an offensive anti-gay Facebook post. The incident highlights the issue of whether staff should be taken to task over their private affairs. Iveri’s homophobia would have damaged Opera Australia’s brand as well as many audience member’s ability to be drawn in by her performance. Social media breaches by employees are less clear-cut if the employer has a less prominent "brand", the employee lacks a public profile or the comments are less offensive

CORPORATES
OPERA AUSTRALIA, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD