Sacked Over Facebook “pub talk” Comments – Reinstatement
Fair Work Australia (FWA) has found a Linfox truck driver’s comments about managers, on what he believed to be a private Facebook page, did not justify his dismissal. FWA has criticised Linfox for failing to keep pace with other large employers that have “detailed social media policies” & make substantial efforts to educate their employees about them. In reinstating the driver, Commissioner Roberts said while some of the comments may be considered initially offensive, when read as a whole they had, “the flavour of a conversation in a pub or cafe, although conducted in an electronic format“.
POLICY ISSUE
The Commissioner said that Linfox had no social media policy in place at the time the comments were discovered, nor had it subsequently developed such a policy, preferring to rely on its Induction Training & Employee Handbook. “In the current electronic age, this is not sufficient & many large companies have published detailed social media policies and taken pains to acquaint their employees with those policies. Linfox did not.”
Commissioner Roberts said, after examining the evidence, there was no valid reason for the termination of the driver’s employment & that his dismissal was harsh, unjust & unreasonable. He ordered Linfox to reinstate him & pay his lost wages.
Glen Stutsel v Linfox Australia Pty Ltd [2011] FWA 8444 (19 December 2011)