Accused of misconduct after 19 years, she won nine months' notice

Janelle McAlister helped set up the Australian arm of a Norwegian fertiliser group in 1996 and worked for Yara Australia for almost 19 years, rising to administration, logistics and human resources manager. In April 2015 a new managing director restructured the business. Ms McAlister learned at a meeting that her role had changed; most of her duties were taken away, and she was left with 'an empty title'.

In October 2015 Yara decided to stop using a customs broker whose owner was married to a Yara employee, a relationship long known in the company. The broker asked whether Yara was ending a contract running to November 2015, which Ms McAlister had signed in February. She had also signed a routine shipping authority for the broker's new owner. On 16 October 2015 Yara summarily dismissed her for serious misconduct, paying five weeks in lieu of notice.

The court found she had authority to sign both documents and had spoken to the former managing director about the contract. The contract caused Yara no loss, and the authority saved it detention charges. Matters Yara relied on were never put to her, and the disciplinary interview was a formality. Her minor slips did not warrant summary dismissal.

Her 1996 contract said nothing about notice, so the court implied a term of reasonable notice, and held that the minimum in the National Employment Standards did not displace it. She was 54, had served 19 years, had narrow experience and no formal qualifications, and had struggled for years to find comparable work. The court fixed nine months, valued on her $191,200 package, less the five weeks paid. Her claims for redundancy pay, and that she was dismissed because of her age, back surgery or complaints, failed.