Even with a clean record and genuine apology, the comments were too egregious to overlook
A mining worker's graphic sexual talk over workplace radio cost him his job, even after apologizing and maintaining a spotless three-year record.
Garth Saunders lost his unfair dismissal claim on February 5, 2026, after the Fair Work Commission found that sexually explicit conversations broadcast over two-way radio at Jellinbah Mining's Queensland site gave the company valid grounds for termination.
The case turned on radio exchanges between midnight and 3:30 AM on April 24 and 25, 2025. According to the show cause letter, Saunders made comments about asking a worker's partner if they would do MDMA to encourage anal sex, suggested a worker finger themselves in front of their sexual partner and film a reaction of their sexual partner during intercourse "so we can all enjoy it," and told someone to "give her a few wines" while discussing a partner's reluctance to perform a sexual act.
The conversations happened just six months after Jellinbah rolled out what Deputy President Butler called "quite robust training" in October 2024 addressing two-way radio conduct. Training slides warned that discussions of any sexual nature were unacceptable, regardless of crew or audience. The message was blunt: "There is zero tolerance of offensive language, demeaning or harassing content, excluding behaviour, and/or intimidating behaviour."
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