The finding said no misconduct - then a customer complained and the outcome flipped
An aircraft engineer has won his unfair dismissal case after the Fair Work Commission found his employer reversed a clean internal report to justify sacking him.
The Commission ruled on July 31, 2026 that the aircraft maintenance company had dismissed a licensed engineer without a valid reason and without a fair process. It ordered the employer to pay $41,203.65 in compensation, plus superannuation, within 14 days.
The case turned on a single maintenance decision. Facing a recurring fault on an aircraft, the engineer powered the plane down and back up to clear it - a step he likened to restarting a phone. It worked, but it delayed the departure by 17 minutes. The customer airline complained and asked that he be removed from working on its aircraft.
What happened next is the lesson for HR.
The company's own investigator assessed the incident using a "Just Culture Decision Tree," a standard framework for deciding whether an error reflects genuine misconduct or an honest mistake. Her report recorded "nil findings and nil observations." It did not recommend dismissal and did not find the engineer had acted maliciously. The head of quality and safety at the time agreed with it. The chief executive signed it. It was sent to the airline.
Then the airline objected to the report. A newly appointed head of quality and safety reviewed it again and reclassified the engineer's conduct as a "reckless...
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