Two months of requests. Medical reports. Ergonomic checklists. Then a one-line direction from Elgas
A casual worker asked to work from home before surgery. Two months later, she lost her assignment.
The Federal Court of Australia has granted a worker leave to pursue a disability discrimination claim against her labour hire employer, finding there are unresolved questions about the company's role in denying her requests to work from home while she prepared for and recovered from abdominal surgery.
The decision, handed down on October 21, 2026, centres on a triangular employment arrangement that will look familiar to many HR teams: the worker was employed as a casual by Zoom Recruitment Pty Ltd but assigned to Elgas Limited to perform accounts receivable work at its Canning Vale site in Western Australia.
She had been in the role since 2023. As a casual, she had no paid sick leave - meaning if she could not work, she had no income.
When surgery loomed in early March 2025, the worker asked both Elgas and Zoom if she could work from home temporarily. Elgas told her to take it up with Zoom. Zoom asked for a formal fitness-for-work assessment and said it had 21 days to review the request.
What followed, according to the judgment, was a trail of emails in which the worker struggled to get timely answers or clear guidance. Zoom requested medical information, then more medical information, then an ergonomic assessment. The worker provided everything asked of her.
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