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An employee who initially thought her demotion letter was an "emotional brain-snap" has successfully argued she was unfairly sacked.

On Christmas Eve last year, the Allied Express Transport call centre manager did not show up for the start of her shift or answer her phone. The employer contacted her family and when her brother went to check on her, he found her asleep.

At 10am the employee called her manager to say she had a sore back and, after taking two Endone tablets the evening before, had slept in. She said she'd attend work later but couldn't rush due to ongoing pain. Around midday she called back to say she was in too much pain to work.

Later that afternoon her manager called to say she was being demoted from a manager on an $85k salary to an investigator on a $65k salary...