He cited medical grounds to avoid every meeting - but never told his employer what they were
An employee told his boss he would only communicate in writing and stopped showing up to meetings. The Fair Work Commission has backed his employer for dismissing him over it.
In a decision dated September 2, 2026, the Fair Work Commission dismissed an unfair dismissal claim brought by an assistant accountant who refused to attend face-to-face meetings and insisted every instruction from his manager come in writing. The Commission found the employer had a valid reason to end his employment.
The worker joined a family-owned wholesale distributor in New South Wales in February 2024, starting on $90,000 a year. His performance struggled early, improved with his manager's support, and earned him a rise to $100,000 in March 2025. The relationship soured a few months later, after he asked for a further $20,000 and was turned down. From that point, according to the decision, his manner and his work changed.
By August 2025 he was avoiding face-to-face contact and asking for all task requests in writing - even for jobs that took about five minutes, such as setting up two new-starter records in the payroll system. His manager described email chains that ran across a full workday to get routine tasks done, and said he ended up covering the worker's duties on top of his own.
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