Whether Resignation Following Sexual Harassment Complaint and Inadequate Employer Response Constitutes Constructive Dismissal and Determination of Liability?

Unfair Dismissal After a “Resignation”: When Does an Employer’s Handling of a Sexual Harassment Complaint Make Quitting the Probable Outcome?

Based on the authentic Australian judicial case Courtney Sewell v dnata Airport Services Pty Limited [2025] FWC 2823 (U2025/8727), this article disassembles the Court’s judgment process regarding evidence and law. It transforms complex judicial reasoning into clear, understandable key point analyses, helping readers identify the core of the dispute, understand the judgment logic, make more rational litigation choices, and providing case resources for practical research to readers of all backgrounds.

Chapter 1: Case Overview and Core Disputes

Basic Information

Court of Hearing: Fair Work Commission
Presiding Judge: Deputy President Beaumont
Cause of Action: Application for an unfair dismissal remedy under s 394 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)
Judgment Date: 22 September 2025
Core Keywords:
Keyword 1: Authentic Judgment Case
Keyword 2: Unfair dismissal
Keyword 3: Constructive dismissal
Keyword 4: Sexual harassment complaint handling
Keyword 5: Workplace investigation fairness
Keyword 6: Compensation under s 392

Background

This case arose from a workplace breakdown after the Applicant reported alleged sexual harassment by a male colleague. The Respondent investigated and concluded it could not substantiate the allegation. What followed was not simply a disagreement about facts; it was a rapid erosion of trust about safety, transparency, and whether the Applicant could continue in her role without being required to work alongside the colleague she had complained about.

The Applicant ultimately resigned. The Respondent then argued there was no dismissal at all, saying the Applicant left by choice. The Commission had to decide whether the resignation was, in substance, a dismissal because the Respondent’s conduct made resignation the probable result.

Core Disputes and Claims

Core legal focus: Whether the Applicant “resigned but was forced to do so” because of the Respondent’s conduct or course of conduct, within s 386(1)(b) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), and if so, whether the dismissal was unfair under s 385 and s 387.

Applicant’s claim/relief sought:
– A finding that she was dismissed within s 386(1)(b) despite resigning
– A finding the dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable under s 387
– A remedy, with compensation sought rather than reinstatement

Respondent’s position/relief sought:
– A jurisdictional objection that there was no dismissal because the Applicant resigned voluntarily
– Dismissal of the application, or alternatively a finding no unfair dismissal remedy was warranted

Chapter 2: Origin of the Case

The Applicant worked part-time as a Passenger Services Delivery Agent at an airport. Her work involved frontline passenger operations: checking-in passengers, boarding, arrivals, and assisting passengers as needed. An informal flexibility arrangement existed to accommodate her tertiary study timetable, a detail that later mattered when the Respondent argued rostering changes were operationally difficult.

A sequence of workplace issues sat in the background, including fatigue concerns, leave disputes, and disappointment around higher duties pathways. The Commission later treated most of those matters as context rather than drivers of constructive dismissal. The centre of gravity was the handling of the sexual harassment complaint and what the Respondent required the Applicant to accept afterward.

The decisive turning point was the Applicant’s report of conduct of a sexual nature by a male colleague. The Applicant’s account was that, during a workplace interaction about an upcoming social event, the colleague made repeated, intrusive comments about what she should wear, including a suggestion involving a hijab and a short mini skirt, and persisted after she repeatedly refused. The Applicant reported feeling extremely uncomfortable and left the space to end the conversation.

From there, the timeline mattered:

The report was made promptly to a duty manager.
Senior management involvement escalated after the Applicant expressed distress and took personal leave.
The Respondent investigated, suspended the colleague, and gathered competing accounts.
The Respondent informed the colleague of the outcome in writing earlier than it provided any written outcome to the Applicant.
The Applicant was later told the colleague would return to work, and she would likely be rostered with him unless she changed roles or airline assignment.
The written outcome provided to the Applicant arrived later and contained ambiguous language that, on its face, did not sit cleanly with what had been verbally communicated.

In ordinary life terms, this was the moment where the “practical choice” question becomes real: the Applicant was being asked to keep doing the same job, in the same environment, potentially alongside the person she had accused, with no immediate written clarity, and with the main “solution” options requiring her to move.

Chapter 3: Key Evidence and Core Disputes

Applicant’s Main Evidence and Arguments

1) The initial report content
– The Applicant’s written report described a conversation at work, including the specific suggestion about “wearing hijab with a short mini skirt”, repeated prompting, and her repeated refusals, ending with her leaving the room to stop the conversation.

2) Post-incident distress and immediate disclosure to colleagues
– The Applicant asserted that colleagues noticed she was upset shortly after the incident and encouraged her to report it.

3) Leave communications and welfare concerns
– The Applicant’s email to senior management described a “profound adverse impact” on her mental health, criticised the lack of timely contact, and requested an “immediate action plan” to ensure safety.

4) The outcome communication gap
– The Applicant’s position was that she did not receive a timely written outcome, and that uncertainty and delay worsened her loss of trust.

5) The roster and safety dilemma
– The Applicant sought to be rostered away from the colleague; she said that was refused, and she was effectively told the practical alternative was for her to move.

Applicant’s core argument: On the weight of the Respondent’s conduct, resignation was not a free choice. The Respondent’s handling of the investigation outcome, and the requirement that the Applicant be the one to compromise her working position to avoid contact, made resignation the probable result.

Respondent’s Main Evidence and Arguments

1) Investigation steps taken
– The Respondent’s manager gave evidence that, once senior management became aware, the Respondent acted promptly: offering EAP, accommodating personal leave, suspending the colleague, presenting allegations in writing, interviewing him and the Applicant, and concluding the allegation could not be substantiated on the balance of probabilities given competing accounts.

2) Support measures and options
– The Respondent relied on welfare check-ins, approved leave, and proposed alternatives such as training on another airline, moving to load control, or administrative work.

3) Operational rostering constraints
– The Respondent asserted that maintaining the Applicant’s flexible arrangement and considering the colleague’s visa restrictions meant rosters could not easily be separated on the existing airline assignment unless the Applicant changed role or airline.

Respondent’s core argument: Objectively assessed, the Applicant still had real choices and was not forced to resign.

Core Dispute Points

Constructive dismissal threshold: Did the Respondent’s conduct make resignation the probable result, leaving no effective or real choice but to resign, within s 386(1)(b)?
Investigation fairness and equivalence: Did the Respondent treat the complainant and the accused with equal procedural seriousness, particularly in communication of outcomes and clarity of safety arrangements?
Practical burden of compromise: Was it reasonable for the Respondent to place the burden of changing role/airline on the complainant, rather than exploring moving the colleague or other workable safety measures?
Unfair dismissal factors: If dismissed, was it harsh, unjust or unreasonable under s 387, particularly through “any other matters” in s 387(h)?

Chapter 4: Statements in Affidavits

In Fair Work Commission proceedings, witness statements function as the core narrative engine: they crystallise facts, sequence events, and frame the moral and legal stakes. In this matter, the Applicant’s statements sought to present a cohesive story of escalating distress, inadequate employer response, and a collapsing sense of safety. The Respondent’s manager’s statement sought to show an organisation responding systematically: intake, support, investigation, outcome, and attempted resolution.

A key feature in comparing the statements was how each party narrated “the gap” between the investigation’s existence and the lived reality of returning to work:

The Applicant’s framing: the investigation may have occurred, but the outcome handling and the post-outcome arrangements failed to restore safety, clarity, and trust.
The Respondent’s framing: the investigation followed policy, support was offered, options existed, and the Applicant chose not to engage with proposed solutions.

The boundary between untruths and facts in this case did not turn on dramatic accusations of fabrication. It turned on evidentiary completeness and operational credibility: who was asked, who was not asked, what was put in writing, what was delayed, and whether the employer’s proposed “options” were genuine solutions or structured compromises borne only by the complainant.

Strategic intent behind procedural directions: The Commission’s approach required the Applicant to prove the jurisdictional gateway first: she had to establish dismissal despite resignation. That shaped the evidentiary focus toward the Respondent’s conduct as a course of conduct, and toward whether resignation was the probable result. Only after that gateway was crossed did the analysis fully turn to s 387 and remedy.

Chapter 5: Court Orders

Before the final hearing, the procedural pathway involved:
– The Respondent raising a jurisdictional objection that there was no dismissal
– A hearing convened to determine the jurisdictional point, merits, and remedy
– Evidence filed by the Applicant and by the Respondent through its managerial witness
– Consideration of statutory provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) including s 386, s 387, s 390, s 392, and the Full Bench authorities guiding constructive dismissal analysis

Chapter 6: Hearing Scene: Ultimate Showdown of Evidence and Logic

Process Reconstruction: Live Restoration

The hearing had a defining structural tension: the Commission was not being asked to determine whether sexual harassment occurred as a standalone finding of wrongdoing. It was being asked whether the Respondent’s conduct, in response to the complaint and its aftermath, forced the resignation.

Cross-examination therefore focused on “decision points” rather than only on the incident itself:

What exactly was communicated to the Applicant, and when?
Why was the colleague given a written outcome earlier than the Applicant received one?
How did the Respondent decide that misalignment of accounts meant allegations could not be substantiated?
What steps were taken to corroborate, including whether relevant colleagues were interviewed?
What practical options existed to separate the Applicant from the colleague, and why were those options framed as requiring the Applicant to move?

The Commission’s reasoning later showed that the most damaging inconsistencies were not about minor recollection differences. They were about process clarity, timing, and the placement of the burden of workplace adjustment.

Core Evidence Confrontation

The decisive confrontation centred on three clusters of evidence:

1) Outcome communication asymmetry
The colleague received a written outcome earlier; the Applicant did not receive a written outcome until later and only after requesting it.

2) Ambiguity of the written outcome provided to the Applicant
The letter language suggested an inability to make a finding for some allegations, a form of ambiguity that undermined the clean message the Applicant had been given verbally.

3) Practical safety arrangements post-outcome
The Applicant faced the prospect of returning to work with the colleague. The “solutions” placed to her involved moving roles or airline assignment, a compromise that in practical terms required her to absorb the operational cost of the Respondent’s inability or unwillingness to separate them on existing arrangements.

Judicial Reasoning: How Facts Drove the Result

The Commission accepted that some early steps by the Respondent were appropriate: EAP offered, leave approved, investigation commenced, and interim suspension used. The pivot came when the process “went awry” in outcome handling and the post-outcome working reality.

The Court held that “where the process began to go awry was” when the outcome was given to the colleague, but “it appears not to have been communicated to [the Applicant] in the same way”.

That statement was determinative because it reframed the dispute: the problem was not merely that the complaint was unsubstantiated. The problem was that the Respondent’s actions created an avoidable asymmetry that signalled diminished regard for the complainant’s position and safety.

It was determined that failing to provide the Applicant an outcome letter in a timely manner was “unacceptable” and would plausibly create the perception that the employee “was not valued”.

This was determinative because constructive dismissal is often proven through cumulative impacts. Here, delay and opacity were not treated as minor administrative faults; they were treated as conduct with real consequences for trust, safety perception, and the practicality of continued employment.

The Court held it was “unreasonable to place the burden of compromise on the shoulders of the [Applicant]” and that the delay and content of the outcome letter rendered the Respondent’s conduct sufficiently egregious that resignation was forced.

This was the decisive bridge to s 386(1)(b): the Commission concluded that the Respondent’s course of conduct made termination the probable result.

Chapter 7: Final Judgment of the Court

The Commission determined:

The Applicant was dismissed within s 386(1)(b) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), despite resigning, because the resignation was forced by the Respondent’s conduct or course of conduct.
The dismissal was unfair within s 385 and s 387.
Reinstatement was inappropriate, and compensation was ordered.
Compensation of AUD $36,468.39 was warranted, subject to tax as required by law, applying the established approach to compensation assessment under s 392 including the Sprigg methodology.

Chapter 8: In-depth Analysis of the Judgment: How Law and Evidence Lay the Foundation for Victory

Special Analysis

This decision is jurisprudentially valuable because it demonstrates how constructive dismissal analysis can succeed even where an employer can point to “some reasonable steps” early on. The Commission’s approach shows that a workplace investigation is not a shield if the employer’s later handling of outcomes, communication, and safety arrangements makes resignation the probable outcome.

The case also illuminates a common organisational blind spot: treating the accused employee’s procedural documentation as essential, while treating the complainant’s need for timely, clear, written outcomes as optional. In modern workplace governance, that asymmetry is not merely discourteous; it can be legally consequential.

The decision further highlights a subtle but powerful principle: a complainant should not be required to pay the “operational price” of safety through demotion-like moves, sideways transfers, or loss of preferred duties where the employer has not shown why the alternative, moving the alleged harasser, was not workable.

Judgment Points

1) Constructive dismissal is a probability test, not a blame label
The Commission applied the Full Bench guidance that constructive dismissal under s 386(1)(b) turns on whether the employer intended termination or whether termination was the probable result of the employer’s conduct, leaving no effective or real choice but resignation. The Applicant did not need to prove the employer wanted her gone; she needed to prove the employer’s course of conduct made quitting the likely endpoint.

2) Early “reasonable steps” do not cure later egregious process failures
The Respondent’s early conduct, including EAP, leave approval, and commencing an investigation, was treated as appropriate. But the Commission isolated a later turning point: outcome communication failures, delay in written outcome, and ambiguity in what was provided. The logic is practical: an employee’s ability to continue is often decided at the outcome stage, not the intake stage.

3) Timeliness of outcome communication is not cosmetic
The Commission treated the delay in providing the Applicant the outcome letter as unacceptable, and as capable of creating a perception of being undervalued. In employment disputes, perceptions are not mere feelings; they are evidence of the relational viability of continued employment when assessed objectively.

4) Ambiguity undermines trust and therefore choice
A written outcome that is inconsistent or unclear compared to prior verbal communication is not a harmless drafting issue. The Commission treated it as a factor that eroded trust in the process. Once trust is eroded, the “choice” to remain becomes less real, because staying may require enduring uncertainty about safety boundaries and organisational support.

5) Investigation methodology matters, even when the Commission is not re-trying the harassment allegation
The Commission observed serious flaws, including the Respondent’s apparent assumption that where accounts differ, allegations cannot be substantiated, and the failure to interview relevant colleagues who could have provided contemporaneous observations. The Commission did not decide whether the alleged harassment occurred, but it used these flaws as part of the s 387(h) assessment of fairness and reasonableness in the overall dismissal.

6) “Options” are not neutral if they impose one-sided compromise
The Respondent offered the Applicant role or airline changes. The Commission tested whether that was a genuine accommodation or a forced compromise. It was determined that requiring the complainant to move roles or airline to feel safe, without persuasive evidence that moving the colleague was unworkable, weighed strongly toward constructive dismissal and unfairness.

7) Equivalence of treatment between complainant and accused is a fairness touchstone
A central fairness theme was that the colleague received formal written communication while the Applicant did not, and the Applicant had to request the written outcome. This asymmetry was treated as a factor supporting the perception of being undervalued and the reasonableness of the Applicant losing trust.

8) The case demonstrates how s 387(h) can do heavy lifting
In many unfair dismissal matters, the “valid reason” factors dominate. Here, there was no dismissal for capacity or conduct. The real work occurred under s 387(h) where the Commission considered the investigation flaws, communication failures, and the Respondent’s post-outcome arrangements.

Legal Basis

Key statutory provisions and principles relied on included:

Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 394: right to apply for unfair dismissal remedy
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 385: meaning of unfair dismissal
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 386(1)(b): resignation forced by employer conduct or course of conduct
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 387: criteria for harsh, unjust or unreasonable, particularly s 387(h)
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 390: reinstatement and compensation framework
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 392: compensation factors and constraints, including prohibition on shock/distress components
Full Bench authorities on constructive dismissal:
- Bupa Aged Care Australia Pty Ltd v Shahin Tavassoli [2017] FWCFB 3941
- City of Sydney RSL & Community Club Limited v Balgowan [2018] FWCFB 5
Guidance on the narrowness of constructive dismissal line-drawing: ABB Engineering Construction Pty Ltd v Doumit (AIRC, 9 December 1996, N6999) and O’Meara v Stanley Works Pty Ltd (AIRC, 11 August 2006, PR973462)

Evidence Chain

Conclusion: Constructive dismissal and unfairness were established through a linked chain of objective facts.

Evidence Link 1: Prompt report of alleged sexual harassment and immediate distress
– The Applicant reported conduct of a sexual nature, described as unwelcome and repeated, and contemporaneously expressed distress.

Evidence Link 2: Investigation commenced with some appropriate immediate steps
– Leave approvals and EAP were provided, and the colleague was suspended while investigation steps occurred.

Evidence Link 3: Outcome handling became asymmetric
– The colleague received a written outcome earlier; the Applicant was not given a timely written outcome and had to request it.

Evidence Link 4: Post-outcome working reality was not practically addressed at the critical moment
– The Applicant was placed in a position where she expected to return to work with the colleague imminently, with no immediate robust plan that preserved her role without compromise.

Evidence Link 5: Written outcome ambiguity undermined clarity and trust
– The Applicant received language suggesting an inability to make a finding for some allegations, inconsistent in tone and clarity with prior communications.

Evidence Link 6: Proposed solutions imposed compromise on the Applicant
– Role or airline change options were advanced, while there was insufficient evidence of serious exploration of moving the colleague.

Combined, these links supported the finding that resignation was the probable result of the Respondent’s course of conduct, satisfying s 386(1)(b), and that the dismissal was unfair under s 387, especially s 387(h).

Judicial Original Quotation

The Court held that the Respondent’s failure to provide the outcome letter in a timely manner was “unacceptable” and would objectively create a perception that the employee was not valued.

Why this was determinative: Timeliness and transparency were treated as part of the employment relationship’s viability. A delayed, unclear outcome in a safety-sensitive context made continued employment practically untenable.

It was determined that it was “unreasonable to place the burden of compromise” on the Applicant, and the Respondent’s conduct made termination “the probable result”.

Why this was determinative: This statement directly satisfies the constructive dismissal test. The Commission was not persuaded that the Applicant’s resignation was merely discretionary; it was a foreseeable endpoint of the Respondent’s approach.

Analysis of the Losing Party’s Failure

The Respondent’s case failed for reasons that can be stated with precision:

1) Over-reliance on “we investigated” without ensuring outcome equivalence
The Respondent treated the existence of an investigation as the main proof of reasonableness. The Commission accepted investigation steps occurred but found later outcome handling unacceptable and deficient.

2) Failure to demonstrate genuine operational impossibility of separating rosters without penalising the Applicant
The Respondent asserted constraints, including flexible arrangements and visa limitations, but did not provide cogent evidence showing that the only feasible solution was the Applicant moving. The absence of direct evidence about moving the colleague weakened the Respondent’s position.

3) Misjudging the legal weight of ambiguity and delay
The Respondent appeared to treat delay in providing the written outcome to the Applicant as an administrative choice. The Commission treated it as legally significant conduct with consequences for trust, value, and practical choice.

4) Treating the complainant’s “options” as voluntary choices, when they functioned as compromises
The Commission did not accept that role/airline changes were neutral. In context, they were compromises required to restore safety, and the Commission found it unreasonable for the burden to sit on the Applicant.

5) Investigation methodology vulnerabilities
The Commission identified serious investigative flaws, including the approach that misaligned accounts meant an allegation could not be substantiated, and the failure to interview colleagues who may have provided relevant contemporaneous evidence.

Key to Victory

The successful pathway for the Applicant was built on:
– Establishing a coherent timeline showing asymmetry, delay, and ambiguity in outcome communication
– Demonstrating that the “solutions” required personal compromise and job change to regain safety
– Anchoring the legal test in s 386(1)(b) and Full Bench authority: probable result and no real choice
– Persuading the Commission that the Respondent’s conduct was sufficiently egregious in totality to force resignation
– Framing unfairness through s 387(h): process flaws and inequivalence as relevant matters

Reference to Comparable Authorities

Bupa Aged Care Australia Pty Ltd v Shahin Tavassoli [2017] FWCFB 3941
Ratio: Constructive dismissal under s 386(1)(b) requires showing employer conduct intended termination or made termination the probable result, leaving no real choice but resignation. The Full Bench distinguished “heat of the moment” resignations from “forced resignation” cases, clarifying the essential role of employer conduct in the second limb.

City of Sydney RSL & Community Club Limited v Balgowan [2018] FWCFB 5
Ratio: Constructive dismissal is accommodated by s 386(1)(b) and is not subsumed by s 386(1)(a). The authority reinforces the conceptual separation and directs attention to the forced resignation pathway where employer conduct is central.

ABB Engineering Construction Pty Ltd v Doumit (AIRC, 9 December 1996, N6999)
Ratio: The line between resignation by choice and resignation forced by employer conduct is narrow and must be rigorously observed, ensuring unfair dismissal remedies are not invoked where termination results from employee discretion rather than employer conduct.

Implications

1) Safety disputes are not only about the event; they are about what happens next
If a workplace cannot restore a sense of safety and fairness after a complaint, the relationship can become unsustainable. The law recognises that practical reality.

2) Written clarity is a form of respect, and respect is legally relevant
When serious allegations are investigated, delay and ambiguity can operate like a silent message: your experience is secondary. Courts and tribunals can treat that as objectively damaging.

3) Real choice requires real options
An employee has “choice” only if the options preserve dignity, role integrity, and safety without forcing one-sided compromise. If every option demands the complainant give up their position, the law may treat resignation as forced.

4) Investigations must be capable of finding facts, not merely recording disagreement
Where there are two competing accounts, an investigation must test credibility and corroboration. A default “we cannot decide” stance can become a weakness, particularly if potential corroborative witnesses were not explored.

5) You can be supported, and still be pushed out
EAP, welfare checks, and leave approvals matter, but they do not substitute for structural fairness. Emotional support does not cure procedural unfairness.

Q&A Session

Q1: If an employer investigates and cannot substantiate allegations, can an employee still succeed in unfair dismissal after resigning?
A1: Yes, where the issue is not the outcome alone but the employer’s conduct in handling the outcome and ongoing workplace arrangements. Constructive dismissal focuses on whether employer conduct made resignation the probable result, not on whether allegations were substantiated.

Q2: Does constructive dismissal require proof the employer wanted the employee to resign?
A2: No. The test can be met where termination was the probable result of the employer’s conduct or course of conduct, even without an intention to end employment.

Q3: Why did the Commission focus so much on the timing and wording of the outcome letter?
A3: Because timing and clarity are not trivial in safety-related workplace complaints. Delay and ambiguity can objectively undermine trust and make continued employment practically untenable, supporting a finding that resignation was forced.

Appendix: Reference for Comparable Case Judgments and Practical Guidelines

1. Practical Positioning of This Case

Case Subtype: Employment and Workplace Disputes: Unfair Dismissal and Constructive Dismissal Following Employer Handling of a Sexual Harassment Complaint
Judgment Nature Definition: Final Judgment

2. Self-examination of Core Statutory Elements

③ Employment and Workplace Disputes (Industrial Relations Law)

Core Test: Unfair Dismissal under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)

Step 1: Eligibility gateway and application pathway
– Confirm the application is made under s 394 and the person is protected from unfair dismissal at the time of the alleged dismissal. Protection generally involves modern award coverage, enterprise agreement coverage, or income threshold considerations, alongside minimum employment period requirements. The specific gateway facts must be matched to the employment arrangement and timing.

Step 2: Was there a “dismissal” within s 386?
– A person is dismissed if employment was terminated on the employer’s initiative, or the person resigned but was forced to do so because of conduct or a course of conduct engaged in by the employer. In constructive dismissal cases under s 386(1)(b), the essential element is employer conduct.

Step 3: Constructive dismissal test focus
– Identify the employer conduct or course of conduct.
– Assess whether the employer engaged in the conduct with intention to bring employment to an end, or whether termination was the probable result of the conduct.
– Determine whether the employee had no effective or real choice but to resign.
– Apply the logic rigorously, because the line between discretionary resignation and forced resignation tends to be closely drawn.

Step 4: Was the dismissal “unfair” within s 385?
– Confirm the dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable, and not consistent with the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code if applicable, and not a case of genuine redundancy.

Step 5: Apply s 387 factors for harshness, injustice, or unreasonableness
– Consider valid reason relating to capacity or conduct, notification, opportunity to respond, support person, warnings, size and HR expertise, and any other matters the Commission considers relevant. In non-misconduct constructive dismissal cases, s 387(h) commonly carries substantial weight because the fairness analysis is anchored in the employer’s course of conduct.

Core Test: General Protections under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) as an Alternative Path

If an unfair dismissal claim is unavailable or relatively high risk, consider whether the facts tend to support a General Protections claim:

Step 1: Identify adverse action
– Dismissal, injury in employment, alteration of position to prejudice, or discrimination in employment.

Step 2: Identify a workplace right or protected attribute/activity
– Making a complaint or inquiry in relation to employment can constitute a workplace right, depending on context and framing. Reporting sexual harassment and seeking a safe workplace can intersect with workplace rights and protections.

Step 3: Causation and reverse onus
– Determine whether adverse action was taken because the person exercised a workplace right. The reverse onus mechanism can shift evidentiary burdens, making it strategically significant, though it remains fact-sensitive and requires careful alignment with statutory elements.

Core Test: Sham Contracting

Not central to this case, but relevant in broader employment disputes where status is contested:

Assess whether the worker is a genuine independent contractor or a disguised employee by examining control, tools, financial risk, integration, and capacity to work for multiple clients. This tends to be determined on the totality of the relationship rather than labels.

3. Equitable Remedies and Alternative Claims

This case primarily operates within statutory industrial relations law, but there are equity-adjacent and common law concepts that can function as practical counter-attack pathways when statutory remedies are constrained.

Procedural Fairness as a Structural Principle

In workplace investigations, procedural fairness is not only an administrative law concept. It can operate as an evaluative lens in employment disputes, particularly where the dispute concerns whether employer conduct was reasonable and whether resignation was forced.

Key procedural fairness considerations that tend to be influential:
– Opportunity to be heard in relation to allegations or safety concerns
– Transparency and timeliness in communicating outcomes
– Avoidance of arbitrary or inconsistent treatment between complainant and accused
– Genuine consideration of safety adjustments without imposing one-sided burdens

A failure in these areas can strengthen arguments that employer conduct became untenable and made resignation the probable result.

Ancillary Claims Strategy

If an unfair dismissal claim fails or is relatively high risk due to dismissal gateway disputes, consider whether the matter can be reframed:

General Protections: complaint/inquiry rights and adverse action causation
Discrimination pathways: where safety adjustments are refused on a basis that intersects with protected attributes, depending on jurisdictional facts
Work health and safety complaint mechanisms: while not a tribunal remedy pathway in the same way, the existence of WHS duties can bolster the credibility and reasonableness of safety-related requests

These avenues do not guarantee success and must be matched precisely to the factual matrix and statutory tests, but they can operate as alternative leverage points.

4. Access Thresholds and Exceptional Circumstances

Regular Thresholds

Unfair dismissal thresholds and time limits that commonly apply:
– 21-day statutory time limit for lodging an unfair dismissal application following dismissal
– Minimum employment period thresholds: often 6 months for non-small business employers, and 12 months for small business employers
– Jurisdictional gateway: a “dismissal” must be established, which is a hard threshold in resignation cases
– Coverage thresholds: modern award or enterprise agreement coverage, or earnings below the high income threshold, subject to statutory framework at the relevant time

Exceptional Channels

Constructive dismissal exception pathway:
– Where there is a resignation, the matter can still proceed if the employee establishes s 386(1)(b) constructive dismissal. This is an exception pathway to the ordinary “employer terminated” model. It tends to be determined by the objective consequences of employer conduct, not the employer’s stated intentions.

Practical suggestion: Do not abandon a potential claim simply because it appears you resigned. Carefully evaluate whether employer conduct created a course of conduct making resignation the probable outcome, and whether a reasonable person in the position would have felt they had no effective or real choice.

5. Guidelines for Judicial and Legal Citation

Citation Angle

This authority tends to be most useful in submissions concerning:
– Constructive dismissal under s 386(1)(b) where resignation follows employer mishandling of a complaint process
– The legal significance of delays, ambiguity, and inequivalence in investigation outcome communication
– s 387(h) “any other matters” analysis in unfair dismissal where there is no capacity or conduct dismissal reason
– The reasonableness of requiring the complainant, rather than the alleged harasser, to bear the compromise of role change to secure safety

Citation Method

As Positive Support:
– Where your matter involves a serious complaint, an investigation that concludes as unsubstantiated, and post-investigation arrangements that impose the burden of compromise on the complainant, citing this authority can support the proposition that resignation may still be dismissal if the employer’s conduct makes resignation the probable result.

As a Distinguishing Reference:
– If the opposing party cites this case, you should emphasise factual uniqueness, such as timely written outcomes, clear safety arrangements, genuine exploration of moving the alleged harasser, or evidence showing the employee had workable options preserving role integrity without compromise, arguing constructive dismissal is not made out.

Anonymisation Rule:
– In all narrative exposition, use procedural titles such as Applicant and Respondent rather than party names, except where the formal case name is required for citation.

Conclusion

This case shows that constructive dismissal is not a technical trick; it is a legal recognition of practical reality. When an employer’s course of conduct after a serious complaint leaves an employee facing uncertainty, delayed clarity, ambiguous outcomes, and one-sided compromise, resignation can be the probable result, and the law can treat it as dismissal.

Everyone needs to understand the law and see the world through the lens of law. The in-depth analysis of this authentic judgment is intended to help everyone gradually establish a new legal mindset: True self-protection stems from the early understanding and mastery of legal rules.

Disclaimer

This article is based on the study and analysis of the public judgment of the Fair Work Commission (Courtney Sewell v dnata Airport Services Pty Limited [2025] FWC 2823), aimed at promoting legal research and public understanding. The citation of relevant judgment content is limited to the scope of fair dealing for the purposes of legal research, comment, and information sharing.

The analysis, structural arrangement, and expression of views contained in this article are the original content of the author, and the copyright belongs to the author and this platform. This article does not constitute legal advice, nor should it be regarded as legal advice for any specific situation.

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