Health and safety rep wins unfair dismissal case after 21 years on the job
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 130 No 4, 20 June 2025, page no 27.
A long-serving teacher at Xavier College, an elite Catholic boys school in Melbourne, has been awarded more than $14,000 in compensation by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) after being found to have been unfairly dismissed.
In a detailed ruling, Commissioner Connolly found that, while the school had valid concerns about aspects of the teacher’s conduct, the flaws in how it handled his performance management rendered the dismissal harsh and unjust.
The teacher, who began working at Xavier in 2003 and has never held another job before or since, taught Latin, religious education, Italian and classical Greek, and served in union and health and safety roles. Despite two formal warnings — one in 2016 and another in 2022 — the Commission found that confusion and mismanagement of his performance improvement plan contributed significantly to the unfairness of his dismissal.
Xavier College had accused the teacher of delayed student marking, poor communication and difficulties working collaboratively with colleagues. Among the school’s grievances was his failure to provide VCE students with timely feedback, inability to complete tasks, communication lapses and even the untidiness of his desk.
The Commission was not persuaded that these issues were handled in a procedurally fair manner. A key concern was the lack of clarity in the school’s expectations: performance and conduct issues were blurred and the teacher was not formally told the improvement plan had ended. The Commissioner noted that this may have given the teacher the impression he was making sufficient progress.
The case also highlighted tensions between the teacher’s safety representative role and the performance management process. Notably, the principal cancelled a scheduled performance meeting without explanation shortly after the teacher, in his HSR capacity, issued a performance improvement notice to management. While the principal claimed this was to avoid any perceived conflict of interest, the FWC found it added to the lack of transparency and procedural fairness.
The Commission was critical of the school’s decision to have the principal serve as both performance manager and dismissal decision-maker. It noted that it would have been “prudent” for an independent investigator to be appointed, as requested by the Independent Education Union, particularly given the principal’s earlier withdrawal from the improvement process due to potential bias.
Importantly, the Commissioner found that by the time the teacher was given a show cause letter in August, the principal had already made up his mind to terminate. The teacher’s attempts to provide further responses were brushed aside, reinforcing the perception that he was denied a fair chance to defend his position.
While the Commission accepted that there were valid reasons to be concerned about the teacher’s performance, the decision underscores the importance of a fair, transparent process and genuine opportunities for improvement — particularly for long-serving employees.
For Union members, this ruling reinforces that, even in cases where performance issues exist, employers must follow clear, fair procedures and cannot rush to dismissal without proper warning and opportunity to respond. It is also a reminder of the importance of standing up for due process, even in challenging environments.