Ultimately undone by Instagram pics
A lawyer who emailed in sick to spend time with friends at an Aussie Rules football game has lost his unfair dismissal claim against his former firm.
Mitchell Fuller was fired from the Melbourne firm Madison Branson Lawyers in August last year after his skiving came to light. A freelance HR consultant was hired by the firm in July to investigate concerns about Fuller’s performance. “On her own initiative”, she discovered posts on Fuller’s Instagram account from the Gather Round weekend — an Aussie Football League festival.
Since his dismissal, Fuller has pursued an unfair dismissal claim with the Fair Work Commission (FWC), the Australian equivalent of the Employment Tribunal. However, Deputy President Andrew Bell found that the photos showed “a connection to football” whilst “others were Mr Fuller and his friends socialising, such as at the beach or with beers at a pub” — behaviour he said amounted to dishonest conduct, given Fuller had emailed in sick.
In an email sent on the morning of Friday, 5 April last year, Fuller said he “had a tough time sleeping last night and [was] not feeling up to coming into the office”. In reality, he was at the Gather Round with his mates, having taken a 90-minute flight from Melbourne to Adelaide the night before. Deputy President Bell found the trip had been “planned and partly paid for four days earlier”.
On Monday morning (8 April), Fuller followed up with another email to his firm: “Hey team, unfortunately I’m still in a bit of discomfort today and don’t think I can hack taking public transport quite yet. I’ll speak to a doc and get a medical certificate when I can, hopefully will be OK tomorrow morning.” He was actually driving some eight or more hours from Adelaide back to Melbourne with friends, according to the ruling.
Deputy President Bell held Fuller was not unfairly dismissed and his conduct at the firm and before the FWC was “dishonest” and “utterly incompatible” with ongoing employment as a solicitor at Madison Branson Lawyers “where integrity and honesty are paramount”.
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