Log in or become a subscriber

An employee who admitted being late to work every day for four years has failed to prove she was dismissed because she had threatened to bring "the largest s-xual harassment case in Australian history".

In 2021, equipment supply company William Adams decided to replace its manual time-keeping system with electronic platform Tanda. However the inventory coordinator expressed concern that the platform was able to collect biometric data and, after investigating, the employer disabled that function.

The employee subsequently agreed to use the system, but consistently failed to arrive on time or record her hours correctly. As a result, her manager counselled her and issued multiple warnings, culminating in a final written warning in November.

During a performance review a few months later, another manager raised concerns about the employee's conduct. The employee said her lateness was due to stress and rumours relating to a sexual harassment complaint she'd made. The manager offered to raise the matter with HR but the employee declined to talk about it...