As with many employment disputes there are alternatives to litigation.  Susan Moriarty & Associates work with clients and employers to negotiate a favourable outcome as one means of avoiding the costs associated with litigating disputes.    In saying this, not all disputes are settled by negotiation and may move forward to a conference in the relevant jurisdiction of the: Fair Work Commission, Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC), Australian Human Rights Commission or Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commission.

This year, Susan Moriarty & Associates has settled a number of legal disputes out of court.   A great example is a recent dispute in which our client alleged sexual harassment in the workplace and made a complaint to that effect to his employer.  The complaint was dismissed by the employer with no further action taken.  Regrettably, matters did not end there.  A temporal link was established between the employee making the complaint and the adverse action the employer took soon after the complaint was made.  That adverse action was as follows, the employee took sick leave because of an injury on a number of occasions, following this the employer called a meeting with the employee without notice and with no agenda outlined. At this meeting, the employee was advised that ‘the relative department were looking at the absence and would guide the manager as to whether the employee would continue with the employer’. Two days later the employee was called into a meeting and handed a termination letter. As the employee was on probation his/her ongoing employment was not confirmed. The reasons for the termination were summarised as, ‘inappropriate professional conduct linked to the usage of sick leave and the notice provided in relation to absences from work’.

In this dispute, the employee had exercised a number of workplace rights such as: the right to make a complaint and the right to take sick leave, and in doing so the employer in its conduct toward our client asserting his/her rights, were adverse and, breached its duty of care to the employee.

This dispute alleging ‘adverse action’ linked to the ‘exercise of a workplace right’ was filed with the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission where a date was set down for a conference.  Fortunately, negotiations proceeded between the parties and a settlement was reached without further litigation. We successfully negotiated a compensation package, a ‘resignation’ instead of ‘termination’, a statement of service and a deed of release.  Signing the deed of release was important to our client because he/she wished to pursue a career in the same industry-which was quite small, the deed of release ensured neither party was to discuss the terms of settlement or dispute with anyone. In concluding the dispute our client emailed our office the following:

“I would like to thank Susan, Brooke, Tara and yourself for every bit of assistance given to me throughout all of this. It certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed, and for everything you have all done for me, I truly am thankful.”

This article is legal information and should not be seen as legal advice. Please consult with a lawyer before you rely on this information.