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A Perth office worker failed in his unfair dismissal claim after being terminated for repeatedly discussing his sex life at work, leaving toilet doors open, and even farting at colleagues’ desks.
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has ruled that Evan-Ashley Solace was validly dismissed by Mettler-Toledo after multiple female colleagues accused him of frequently using “inappropriate sexualised language” and engaging in “offensive behaviour”.
The two-day hearing detailed Solace’s conduct, with several former female employees providing detailed accounts to support the reasons for his dismissal.
The service administrator for Mettler-Toledo revealed that she had raised concerns about Solace’s conduct from the very start of her employment, stating that he would “bait” the women in the office into asking questions about his sex life, creating opportunities to discuss it openly.
Her account also revealed that Solace had no hesitation in sharing intimate aspects of his and his wife’s personal life, reportedly boasting about being into “partner swapping”, leading a “polyamorous lifestyle”, and even going so far as to say he found it “so fucking hot” when his wife dressed up as a nurse.
Another colleague, employed as a scheduler, corroborated claims of Solace’s inappropriate water-cooler conversations, stating that he spoke in detail about his wife dating another man and would arrive at work with scratches he claimed were from “rough sex” he had at a sex party.
He also shared deeply personal details about his wife with this coworker, revealing that she “was a furry who liked to dress up in animal outfits” and would “make her own costumes to wear at sex parties”.
One former employee who sat next to Solace recalled that, just a week into her employment, he began discussing his polyamorous lifestyle – and shockingly, continued to bring it up on “multiple occasions” despite her efforts to “close the conversation down quickly”.
As a result of Solace’s behaviour, this coworker revealed that she decided to leave the company, stating that he made her “feel unsafe and constantly on edge”, and even noted in her exit interview that she would not be leaving if it weren’t for him.
But the complaints went beyond sexual remarks. All three coworkers described the unhygienic and disrespectful behaviour that Solace regularly displayed in the office.
They recalled that he would regularly leave the men’s bathroom door open while using the urinal, with one noting that “people could see him using the urinal when walking to the staff kitchen or the women’s toilet”.
One of the coworkers even recalled that, “on more than one occasion”, Solace “threatened to use the women’s bathroom”.
The coworkers also shared that Solace would regularly fart and burp as he walked past their desks, with one noting that during their time at the company, he “would do this every day”.
Commissioner Lim accepted the women’s evidence, finding that all three complaints were “truthful in their accounts” and that their experiences described “the same complained conduct”, which she determined “supports a finding that the conduct did happen”.
In a written response to Mettler-Toledo, Solace stated that he “strongly den[ies]” the allegations that he made inappropriate sexual references at work, asserting that he always maintained “professional boundaries”.
Solace also wrote that he denies leaving the bathroom door open and claimed that the allegations about him farting and burping in the office were “exaggerated”, adding that such concerns were never raised with him.
Although Lim described the company’s internal investigation as “shambolic” and “terrible,” the commission found that the dismissal was justified, leading to Solace’s application for unfair dismissal being dismissed.
While the commissioner acknowledged that there is “nothing wrong with being sex positive”, she explained that “there is a time and place” for such discussions, noting that “the workplace is often neither”.
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When a company terminates an employee's job for improper or illegitimate reasons, it is known as an unfair dismissal.
