He caused the spill and admitted the breach - so why was he reinstated?
A FedEx driver dismissed after an acid spill that left him and a co-worker with burns has been ordered reinstated. The sacking, a tribunal found, went too far.
In a decision handed down on July 9, 2026, the Fair Work Commission found that FedEx Express Australia had a valid reason to dismiss the leading hand delivery driver, and had run a fair process. Even so, it ruled the dismissal harsh - though notably not unjust or unreasonable - largely because a colleague who was primarily responsible for the poor spill response kept his job.
The core facts were not really in dispute. On November 10, 2025, at FedEx's Unanderra depot near Wollongong, the driver dropped a box in his truck. It held sulphuric acid in glass containers and was clearly marked as a dangerous good containing glass, but he did not look closely enough to see the label. The acid leaked. He and a casual dock hand suffered moderately serious burns.
FedEx investigated over several weeks and then summarily dismissed him for serious misconduct on January 28, 2026, citing breaches of its manual handling policies and its spill-response procedure. He lodged an unfair dismissal application two days later.
The Commission accepted FedEx had a valid reason. The driver breached the company's package handling rules, and as a senior hand he was expected to set an example. The process was fair too: reasons were given in writing, meetings were held, and a...
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