Court accepted the dismissal was about suitability, not sick leave
A food and beverage manager sacked at noon on his first shift back from medical leave has lost his bid for compensation under the Fair Work Act.
On 6 May 2026, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia dismissed Christopher Murphy's claim against Aspen Living Villages, which operates the Darwin FreeSpirit holiday resort. The timing of his dismissal looked damning. The outcome did not match the optics.
Murphy started as Food and Beverage Manager on 26 July 2023 on a permanent full-time basis, subject to a six-month probation. On 13 October 2023, he submitted a medical certificate that declared him unfit for work from 12 October to 16 October 2023 inclusive, and he took approved personal leave for that period. He was not rostered on 17 or 18 October 2023. When he walked in for his next shift on 19 October 2023, his manager Laura McArthur met with him around midday and handed him a termination letter.
Murphy sued, arguing he was fired because he took personal leave and because he exercised his right not to work while on that leave. He also initially claimed he had been dismissed for making a bullying complaint about the assistant property manager, Bron Dalton, but he dropped that allegation at hearing after tendering an amended statement of claim with handwritten amendments crossing out the relevant paragraphs.
The court accepted that the dismissal was adverse action. The question was why it happened....
A person in his 30s who demanded compensation for alleged foreign substances in cup noodles and the absence of meat in stir-fried pork was sentenced to prison in both the first trial and the appel...