CommBank staffer sent ‘disrespectful’ texts amid comedy gig outrage

Frustrated with his manager for getting in the way of his comedy career, an employee of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia sent her a barrage of “extremely disrespectful” text messages.

Former customer engagement specialist at the Commonwealth Bank (CBA), Daniel Pawelczyk, turned to the Fair Work Commission because he believed he was unfairly dismissed in March this year over a complaint he made about his manager.

However, commissioner Sarah McKinnon found the dismissal was justified after Pawelczyk sent the manager more than 50 text messages that were disrespectful and “at times threatening”.

“Pawelczyk was a significant contributor to the circumstances of his dismissal. But for the sending of the messages, Pawelczyk would likely have remained in his employment,” McKinnon said.

From his start date in May 2023 until mid-October, the messages between Pawelczyk and the manager were “positive and friendly”.

This quickly soured after Pawelczyk’s request to work from his friend’s house so he could perform at comedy gigs in the evenings was knocked back. Pawelczyk had been told he either had to work from the head office location or take annual leave instead.

Pawelczyk said the business decision did not make sense to him, it meant a loss of income from the comedy gig, and he felt “it would harm his reputation with the gig promoter”.

The Fair Work Commission heard Pawelczyk also felt “let down” by the manager and blamed her for the “f--k up” on his schedule.

In December, to “get away” from the manager, Pawelczyk applied for an internal role in CBA after being told the new team was “struggling to find someone, was desperate and would take anyone”.

Pawelczyk felt “humiliated” when he was rejected and later disparaged the manager, criticised her performance, and implied she had “torpedoed” his opportunity to find another position.

McKinnon said the manager was “unfailingly polite” to Pawelczyk and had dealt with the messages “as professionally and politely” as she could have done considering the contents of them.

When the manager asked Pawelczyk to stop sending the harassment, he replied with a laughing emoji and sent 31 more texts.

“Pawelczyk glosses over the serious nature of the messages, his motivation in sending them and their frequency,” McKinnon said.

“I do not accept that the messages … were just factual, or that they were sent ‘without thinking’. They were deliberate and … targeted.”