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Rail Employee’s Dismissal Valid Due to Serious Bullying Behaviour

Rail Employee’s Dismissal Valid Due to Serious Bullying Behaviour

A Rail Tram and Bus Union representative, who was fired for allegedly bullying and harassing colleagues, has lost her unfair dismissal case. Samantha Rombola was employed as a Passenger Service Assistant. Ms Rombola’s employment was terminated on 29 July 2016 after an investigation into five allegations of misconduct.
The Rail Commissioner found that four of the five allegations of misconduct were substantiated. The first instance of misconduct involved Ms Rombola treating colleagues in a disrespectful manner. The Rail Commissioner found that Ms Rombola had made a number of disrespectful comments about her colleagues including a female colleague who had been promoted.

It was found that Ms Rombola said words to the effect of: “that f***ing bitch only got the job because she worked at the Port with Rocky” and “who was she rooting to get that job”. Other instances of misconduct that Ms Rombola engaged in, included: failing to comply with a reasonable and lawful managerial direction, taking a personal phone call whilst on duty and treating a passenger in a disrespectful and discourteous manner. These instances of misconduct were considered to be contrary to the Professional Conduct Standards of the Code of Ethics.

The Rail Commissioner found that Ms Rombola “acted inappropriately and acted in a belligerent, intimidating and unprofessional manner” towards her colleagues and a member of the public, and recommended her termination.
The Fair Work Commission held that Ms Rombola’s conduct provided her employer with a valid reason for her dismissal. In his judgment, Commissioner Hampton stated:

“The conduct as demonstrated by the evidence was more than bad language. The tone and manner of the comments and the associated conduct was clearly unreasonable and properly described as serious bullying, even in a robust workplace where inappropriate language was common and tensions between employees were known to exist.”
Commissioner Hampton noted that Ms Rombola’s conduct “was not consistent with the relevant policies and the reasonable expectations within the workplace” and “undermined the necessary trust and confidence in the workplace, […] significantly impact[ing] upon working relationships with management and with other employees.” The FWC held that Ms Rombola’s dismissal was not harsh, unjust or unreasonable and ordered the dismissal of the application.
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Location: Sydney NSW, Australia

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