When 'we'll assume you've resigned' becomes proof that you dismissed them
A cargo worker stopped showing up after raising concerns about a colleague's conduct. His employer sent the standard abandonment letter. The Fair Work Commission called it a dismissal.
On 11 May 2026, Commissioner Crawford handed down a decision that should make every HR team take a second look at how they handle workers who go silent. The case involved Md Abdullah Haque, a Cargo Service Delivery Agent at dnata Airport Services in Sydney, and it turned a routine "deemed resignation" process into a textbook example of how the words in an HR letter can decide who ended the employment.
Haque started with dnata on 12 March 2025. He raised several concerns about the conduct of co-workers during his employment, and after issues arose in August 2025, the company separated him where possible from working with another employee. Things escalated on 8 December 2025, when Haque raised serious concerns about the conduct of two other employees towards a female staff member. Those employees strongly denied any wrongdoing.
The next day, Import Warehouse Manager Doug Kilner sent Haque home early from a non-rostered pickup shift after the two colleagues complained about rumours that had allegedly been circulated by Haque about their conduct. The Commissioner later found the next steps for Haque's employment were not entirely clear when he left the worksite, observing "a degree of confusion between Mr Haque and Mr...
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