Vic: Ansett acted illegally in sacking e mailing employee: court

AAP General News (Australia)
04-07-2000
Vic: Ansett acted illegally in sacking e mailing employee: court

By Heather Gallagher and Gordon Feeney

MELBOURNE, April 7 AAP - Ansett Australia had acted illegally by sacking an employee
who distributed union material on the company's e-mail system, the Federal Court found
today.

Justice Ronald Merkel found the airline had breached the Workplace Relations Act when
it sacked superannuation administrative manager Maria Gencarelli on December 8, 1999.

Ms Gencarelli, a union delegate for the Australian Services Union, was dismissed after
distributing an e-mail updating staff on talks with the company over an enterprise bargaining
agreement.

Outside the court today, Ms Gencarelli told reporters her ordeal had been "quite stressful".

"Obviously there's another stage to this in terms of filing damages and after that
I guess I really need to get my life in order and seek some employment," she said.

Justice Merkel said his decision did not (not) mean union delegates had a general authority
to distribute union material on their employers' e-mail systems.

"Whether an authorisation exists will depend upon the particular circumstances of the
case," he said.

But the Australian Services Union, which brought the case on Ms Gencarelli's behalf,
was jubilant over the result.

"Ansett took an action that pretty much struck fear into Maria and other delegates
that we had at Ansett and we're vindicated today," said organiser Kristyn (Kristyn) Thompson.

"Our delegates can rest a little bit easier ... they don't need to be worried ... that
an employer is going to take some sort of an adverse reaction to (them) performing that
duty as a delegate."

In making his decision, Justice Merkel rejected evidence by an Ansett human resources
manager John Cann - the man responsible for sacking Ms Gencarelli.

"There are a number of factors that have led me not to accept Cann's evidence that
Gencarelli's role as a union delegate played no part in his decision to terminate her
employment," he said.

The judge found Mr Cann viewed the e-mail as a "repeat offence" of wrongly distributing
union material.

He said relations between management and the ASU had become acrimonious, with Ms Gencarelli
caught "in the firing line".

"I have concluded that Ansett has not discharged its onus of excluding the very real
possibility that Gencarelli's dismissal was associated with the circumstance that Gencarelli
was a delegate of the ASU," he said.

Ansett issued a statement saying the court had not ordered Ms Gencarelli's reinstatement
and would now mediate over appropriate compensation.

The company said it stood by its "IT Conditions of Use Policy", which would continue
to apply to all employees.

AAP hmg/apm/bwl

KEYWORD: EMAIL

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