FWA has upheld the sacking of an employee who posted an aggressive rant
on his Facebook page about his work from his home computer, outside of work
hours. Deputy President Swan rejected the employee’s unfair dismissal claim and said the fact the comments were posted from his home computer and out of work hours, “does not make any difference…the comments were read by work colleagues and it was not long before [the colleague targeted in the comments] was advised of what had occurred. The [employer] has rightfully submitted, in my view, that the separation between home and work is now less pronounced than it once used to be.” 
Swan DP, in finding the Good Guys employee’s actions constituted serious
misconduct, said that, “…[it was] difficult to accept that the [employee] was unaware of the consequences of his actions“.
The Good Guy’s Employee Handbook referred to the need to be courteous and polite to colleagues as well as customers and contained detailed policies, including on sexual harassment and workplace bullying. However, Swan DP found that even without the Handbook, “common sense would dictate that one could not write and therefore publish insulting and threatening comments about another employee in the manner in which this occurred”.
The employee did not name the Good Guys, but posted on his Facebook page that he: “…wonders how the f@#k work can be so f@#king useless and mess up my pay again. C#*ts are going down tomorrow.”
The employee argued that his Facebook page was set to the maximum privacy setting and only his select group of 70 friends could see what he had written. But Swan DP accepted that the group of 70 friends who had access to his Facebook page included some of his co-workers. So, even though the employee had blocked the Operations Manager’s access that day (who was also a friend on his Facebook page), she had been advised about the
comments from others at work.
The employee advised FWA that he was frustrated with the problems in sorting
out his pay following a move to a commission-based system, but Swan DP said
there were “other avenues” he could have pursued, including raising it with the Director. She also noted that a dispute settling procedure was available in the Employee Handbook, and that the employee could have consulted the Fair Work Ombudsman, which he had contacted initially, but chosen not to follow up.