Gulliver v Corporation of the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane [2023] FCA 823

Federal Court of Australia

Gulliver v Corporation of the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane [2023] FCA 823 File number: QUD 281 of 2023

Judgment of: LOGAN J

Date of judgment: 7 July 2023

Catchwords: INDUSTRIAL LAW – Enterprise Agreements – contraventions of requirements of Enterprise Agreements – where applicant seeks declaration that her employer contravened s 50 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FWA) by terminating her employment during a dispute resolution process provided in Enterprise Agreement – where the Fair Work Commission (Commission) made a recommendation that the applicant be provided material considered by decision maker before decision to terminate was made – whether the respondent was required to respond to recommendation of Commission – where the Enterprise Agreement expressly contemplated that parties would act on, one way or another, a recommendation by Commission – whether a recommendation by Commission brought dispute resolution process to an end – where recommendation by Commission should not be construed as an end in itself – where mutual adoption of recommendation would bring dispute to end – where employer failed to advise employee before termination whether, it would act on recommendation – where employer's failure deprived employee of right to decide to proceed to arbitration as the next step in the Enterprise Agreement's dispute resolution process – where Enterprise Agreement required status quo to be maintained during resolution process Held: contravention of s 50 of FWA via contravention of Enterprise Agreement required status quo during course of dispute resolution process set out in agreement established

Legislation: Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) s 140 Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) ss 50, 186, 595, 737, 738, 739 Fair Work Regulations 2009 (Cth) reg 6.01