The Case

Chol v Vivesco Pty Ltd (2024)

A landscape and gardening business dismissed an employee following complaints from his co-workers about his behaviour. The employee had called a co-worker a “fat exploiter of foreigners” in anger. The behaviour breached the company’s workplace bullying and intimidation policy, which lists as examples of workplace bullying: insults, yelling, offensive language, and derogatory, demeaning or inappropriate comments about a person’s appearance. The employee’s behaviour also contravened the company’s code of conduct, which lists unacceptable behaviours that may lead to dismissal, including the use of threatening or abusive language towards a fellow employee.