Dismissed worker in limbo: $10k remedy remains unpaid as company owes ATO $330k

A dragged-out unfair dismissal case has left a worker scrambling to receive her owed remedies, with the company yet to reimburse her nearly a year after the proceedings concluded.

Brazil Catering, which previously ran as Feast Delicatessen in Hampton, south-east Melbourne, was ordered to pay a former casual retail assistant $10,292.89 in lost remuneration and $1,132.22 in superannuation back in July 2024.

The order by the Fair Work Commission came after it found that the employee’s dismissal by manager Jim Totos was “harsh, unjust and unreasonable” and lacked a valid reason for employment termination.

As previously reported by HR Leader, the employee presented evidence that she experienced a panic attack during a shift at work. After this, the worker was picked up by her partner and left the workplace, telling Totos that “she was sick”, to which Totos replied that “if she was sick, she should not have come to work, given she was serving food to customers”.

Following this, Totos sent the employee a text stating: “Hi [employee], I hope you’re feeling better, please note that there are no shifts available this weekend. [The shift manager] will be in touch with you for any further shifts. Thanks.”

The employee reached out to Totos the following day, asking whether she was still employed by the company, but she received no response.

FWC deputy president Alan Colman found that the worker’s employment was terminated despite the company claiming she had willingly resigned or abandoned her employment.

Not satisfied with Colman’s finding, the company filed an application to appeal and stay the decision on the basis that Colman’s judgment was made through “factual errors and irrelevant considerations”. This application, however, was refused, with the date of payment for the affected worker being 16 July 2024.

Despite the due date, Brazil Catering failed to reimburse the employee her owed remedies, leading to her filing an application to the Federal Circuit and Family Court against Brazil Catering, the Feast Group (Feast Delicatessen), and Jim Totos himself for failing to comply with the FWC’s order.

In her application, the employee alleged that Totos failed to “direct or authorise or otherwise … Brazil Catering and/or Feast to pay the compensation” while also being involved in the primary contravention.

The employee is seeking full reimbursement of the original amount owed to her as well as interest on the amount and a pecuniary penalty for the various parties’ contravention of the Fair Work Act due to their non-compliance.

Totos denied his involvement in the contravention, claiming the employee was not “entitled to any relief sought against him”, with the Feast Group also echoing the same sentiment.

Brazil Catering admitted that the employee was entitled to the owed compensation from the original FWC order, but it denied other relief sought by her as outlined in the application.

Alongside this drawn-out process is a recent application by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) against Brazil Catering filed on 9 May 2025.

The application seeks to wind up the company on grounds of insolvency, alleging that Brazil Catering failed to comply with a statutory demand. It further alleged that the company owes the ATO a total of $329,396.29.

According to the ATO, “a failure to respond to a statutory demand can have very serious consequences for a company. In particular, it may result in the company being placed in liquidation and control of the company passing to the liquidator of the company.”