The Court dismissed a general protections claim under ss 340, 351 and 352 of the Fair Work Act 2009, finding that the respondent discharged the reverse onus under s 361 by establishing that the sole reason for the applicant's dismissal was genuine redundancy arising from project demobilisation, not any prohibited reason connected to the applicant's disability, workers' compensation claims, personal leave or workplace complaints. The Court found the redundancy decision was made in November 2023 based on a contemporaneous scoring spreadsheet completed in August 2023, and that the delay in effecting the dismissal until February 2024 was attributable to scheduling difficulties and a Christmas non-termination policy rather than any prohibited reason. The decision-maker's awareness of the applicant's protected attributes and exercise of workplace rights was insufficient to establish contravention, consistent with the High Court's holding in Qantas that mere awareness does not constitute being motivated by a proscribed reason.
The full text is available to signed-in members.