Her signed deed barred the claim, and the Commission agreed
A worker who signed a release agreement two days before her employment ended tried to pursue an unfair dismissal claim against her former employer anyway.
Julia Burton finished up at Nutrien Ag Solutions on 11 December 2025. Two days earlier, on 9 December 2025, she and Nutrien had signed a release agreement designed to draw a line under her employment. On 24 February 2026, she applied under s 394 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) for an unfair dismissal remedy against Nutrien. Her application was filed 52 days out of time.
The release agreement was the kind HR teams use every day. Clause 2 said Burton "absolutely releases and forever discharges Nutrien and its related bodies corporate and their directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives" from essentially every claim connected to her employment or its end, excluding any statutory claim for workers' compensation or superannuation. Clause 8 went further, stating the agreement would operate as "an absolute bar to all claims, suits, demands and actions of whatsoever kind" threatened or brought by Burton against Nutrien arising out of or in connection with her employment or termination.
When the Commission's chambers wrote to the parties on 2 April 2026 asking Burton to confirm whether she wished to discontinue her application given the executed release agreement and the late filing, she did not respond. A case management conference followed on 14 April...
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