Could firing a worker during a heated argument be considered a formal dismissal?

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) recently dealt with an unfair dismissal case involving a worker who argued he was dismissed from work after a heated conversation with his employer. 

However, before deciding if there was an unfair dismissal, the Commission had to decide whether the employee had indeed been dismissed from employment. 

Employee unhappy with work demands

From February 2021 to April 2023, the worker was employed as a loader and delivery driver for a door supplier company. 

On 3 April 2023, the worker said that after going to the tip that day, he returned to the site with his lunch and was given five deliveries for the afternoon. 

While having his lunch, the worker then called the company's director asking why the worker had five jobs when the employer promised him only one or two jobs a day. 

The worker also told the employer words to the effect, "You want me to do more work, but you won’t give me more money that I have asked you for before" to which the employer replied, "That’s the end of you, you don’t work here anymore."

According to the worker, the employer was already angry and hung up the call. Consequently, the worker went to see the other director who "wished him the best" in the future. 

Employer cites vehicle issues

While the employer agreed that the worker had asked him about having five jobs, it had a different version of the events that transpired. 

The employer said that the worker complained that he did not want to keep driving the company truck and asked to drive one of the company's utility vehicles instead. 

However, the employer said it refused to grant the worker's request because the vehicles were all being used by other employees.

It further said that it reassured the worker that once the vehicle arrived, the worker could stop driving the truck and resume driving the utility vehicle. However, the worker got angry and refused to drive the truck "in the meantime,” according to the employer.

HRD previously reported about an unfair dismissal case involving a worker who claimed he was forced to resign shortly after a private meeting with his employer.

FWC's decision on dismissal

After examining the case, the Commission was satisfied that the worker's employment was terminated at the employer's initiative. 

It noted that the worker was dismissed in the phone call on 3 April 2023 and that such a dismissal likely occurred in the heat of the moment while the employer was angry. 

The Commission also favoured the worker's recollection of the events that transpired during the phone call over the employer's evidence as it was "consistent with both the actions of the parties and the documents brought into existence at or around the time of dismissal."

While the worker's employment termination most probably happened during a heated argument, the FWC noted that the employer did not seek to correct his decision by asking the worker to return to work, strengthening the fact that the employer indeed desired to terminate the worker’s employment.

On the matter of whether there was unfair dismissal or not, the Commission did not conclude on the issue. It only determined that the worker was dismissed at the employer’s initiative.