Mooroolbark Child Care Centre worker fired for threatening violence

A Mooroolbark childcare worker who was sacked after challenging a colleague to a fight in front of a parent and child has lost her claim for unfair dismissal. But the Fair Work Commissioner has questioned some of the centre’s practices.

A Mooroolbark Child Care Centre worker was fired for trying to fight a colleague.

A court has dismissed a Mooroolbark childcare worker’s claim she was unfairly fired after she challenged another staff member to a fight in front of a child.

A Mooroolbark Child Care Centre worker went to the Fair Work Commission to fight her dismissal, after she challenged another staff member to a physical fight in a playroom in front of a parent and a child.

But the commission ruled the woman’s actions in October amounted to “serious misconduct” and declared centre management’s decision to sack her was not “harsh, unjust or unreasonable”, when the case was heard earlier this month.

The woman told the court she had not tried to suggest or threaten violence during the altercation with her colleague about 3.45pm on October 25, but Commissioner Sarah McKinnon labelled these claims “disingenuous and inconsistent”.

After hearing various accounts of the incident, on May 9 Ms McKinnon found the woman had challenged her fellow staff member to a physical fight when they were arguing on the job back in October.

“(She) walked towards (her colleague) with her hands in the air, gesturing as if to fight and using words to the effect of ‘What, you want to go me?’” Ms McKinnon said.

The court heard another staff member, who was carrying a child, stepped between the pair, fearing a fight.

“She did not feel safe,” Ms McKinnon said.

The incident occurred while the childcare centre was operating.

The court heard the woman had been talking to a parent as she cleaned a children’s room when she was approached by a colleague, with whom she had previous tension, who called her selfish for how long she was taking.

The commissioner said while she accepted the woman “needed to defend herself” in the situation, her reaction, which “occurred in the vicinity of a centre parent and at least one child in care,” equated to “serious misconduct”.

“Given (she has) admitted loss of control over her anger, it is entirely conceivable that without intervention, an assault may have occurred.”

Ms McKinnon said the woman had made the decision “to threaten violence” when “she had other options”.

“She could have walked away.”

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The court found Mooroolbark Child Care Centre had been correct in standing the woman down on full pay before an investigation led to her sacking.

But Ms McKinnon found the centre failed to respond adequately to the staff member who had intervened in the issue “putting a child in harms’ way” and the other employee’s role in the conflict.

She said the centre may need to reassess its policies to ensure “balance is achieved and the safety of children in care is never compromised”.

A Mooroolbark Child Care Centre spokesman told Lilydale and Yarra Ranges Leader: “We acknowledge the Fair Work Commission’s findings and have taken their advice.”