‘Best of luck’: Worker dismissed after disclosing medication use

The Fair Work Commission has found that a mutual mistake has led to the dismissal of an employer’s only staff member.

A lapse in communication has led to an employer inadvertently dismissing an employee, despite the employer thinking that he had in fact resigned.

In her 29 May decision, Fair Work commissioner Sarah McKinnon ruled that the worker had, in fact, been dismissed by the employer, Grey Farming, after he was employed as a farm hand at Darling Downs, Queensland, from September 2023 until 5 February 2026. He was the farm’s only employee.

McKinnon found that the farmhand had been dismissed from Grey Farming despite director Ralph Grey believing that he had resigned.

After working at the farm for three years, the worker informed Grey that his wife wanted to open a permanent jewellery shop after she operated a pop-up store for some time, to which Grey responded, saying that it was not a good idea.

The commissioner heard that the worker became upset, seeing this as a “negative response from Mr Grey about his family’s plan”.

“While the business had accommodated the flexibility [the worker] needed for his family, this would not extend to the demands of a permanent shop,” the commissioner said in her decision.

During a conversation on 4 February, the worker disclosed to Grey that he was taking medication for depression and anger management.

After researching the side effects of the medication that his employee was taking, Grey became concerned about the side effects and their impact on his work capacity.

On 5 February 2026, Grey sent a text to the worker saying that he would not be able to return to work unless he obtained a medical certificate “confirming that the medication he was taking would not affect his ability to work on the farm”.

“[The worker] replied to say that he would do this,” the commissioner heard.

The worker sought a day of leave and decided to attend the workplace to ask Grey for leave in person rather than over the phone, considering his command of English was not “100 per cent”.

The worker ran into Grey at the farm’s car park, and their discussion returned to the worker’s desire to start the jewellery business with his wife, which turned emotional.

The commissioner accepted that their interaction included words to the effect that Grey asked the worker: “Where does this leave us? Do you want to continue working for us?”, to which the worker replied “No”.

In an attempt to rephrase his question, Grey asked: “So you don’t want to work here anymore?”, with the worker repeating, “No”.

Following this conversation, Grey told the worker to ask his wife to come and pick him up and to “collect his stuff and leave the work vehicle”; the worker believed that this was dismissal.

“While [the worker] was emptying his belongings from the work vehicle, Mr Grey came to shake his hand and said, ‘this is very disappointing, but best of luck’”, the commissioner heard.

“The evidence is … one of mutual mistake. Mr Grey thought that [the worker had] resigned. [The worker] thought he had been dismissed. Neither sought to clarify the position after 5 February 2026.”

“It was reasonable for Mr Grey to understand [the worker’s] words as communicating his decision to resign. He valued the relationship with [the worker] that had developed over many years and had no reason to dismiss [worker], who was the farm’s only employee.”

“In the circumstances of emotional distress, a language barrier and presumed lack of familiarity with the nuances of Australian employment law, the prospect of confusion about what Mr Grey was communicating to him was real, particularly once [the worker] was told to collect his stuff and leave the work vehicle.”

Thus, McKinnon ruled in favour of the worker, finding that Grey’s decision to proceed based on the 5 February 2026 conversation alone, without seeking to clarify or confirm with the worker, was a termination of the employment at the initiative of the employer, rejecting the jurisdictional objection.

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Carlos Tse

Carlos Tse is a graduate journalist writing for Accountants Daily, HR Leader, Lawyers Weekly.