Distribution of Pornography not ground for Dismissal
Thursday 5 September 2013 @ 9.26 a.m. | Industrial Law
The Fair Work Commission has ruled that sending pornographic emails at work does not form ground for an instant or summary dismissal. The ground breaking decision sends a clear message to employers who are often confused about what behaviour the Fair Work system will allow as grounds for instant dismissal.
The case concerned three Victorian postal workers were dismissed after distributing pornographic material via either their work or personal emails to work emails in their Dandenong workplace. The workers proceeded to appeal the dismissal and the full bench of the Fair Work Commission found the termination to be harsh and the workers were to be reinstated.
The Commissioners found that the emerging trend regarding the accessing, sending or receiving and storing of pornographic material by an employee as a form of serious misconduct meriting termination of employment is inconsistent with basic principle. They emphasised that this in no way legitimises the distribution of pornography in the workplace, but that it should be relegated to other forms of professional misbehaviour. They said that emailing pornography “is not a separate species of misconduct to which special rules apply.”
This case will have serious ramifications for business of all types. “This case removes from the summary dismissal category the sending of pornographic emails,” says TressCox Lawyers partner Rachel Drew.
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