Ex-staffer in employment fight with embattled Italian club
A former worker at an under fire Gold Coast social club has failed in her bid to get her job back – but witnesses say she had already quit.
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A FORMER worker at an under fire Gold Coast social club has failed in her bid to get her job back.
Nadia Dus alleged she was fired as club administration officer at the Gold Coast Italo-Australian club at Clear Island Waters.
However, the Fair Work Commission found she had instead quit.
In a submission to the Fair Work Commission, Ms Dus claimed she had been fired days after she walked out of a heated meeting with her employer, president Robyn Wallace, and new hire Angela Lohrey-Mills on January 22, 2019.
She had been employed at the club since September 2018.
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Ms Dus told the commission she was berated at the impromptu meeting by Ms Wallace for her attitude when questioning the role of new employees.
She alleged Ms Wallace told her that she was “the reason why the club is losing $100,000 a year” and had “not made any meaningful contribution to the club”.
Ms Dus stated she burst into tears and felt that she was backed into a corner and could not defend herself, the commission was told.
She claimed she briefly left to compose herself and on her return stated: “Well, if that’s what you think of me, then I’ll quit.”
She alleged she returned to her desk and continued to work that afternoon – a point disputed by the other parties involved.
Ms Dus, who later spoke to the club president via text, said she did not return to work because she was unsure about the status of her employment at the club.
On January 29, she was informed by Ms Wallace via email that it was the club’s impression she had resigned.
Ms Wallace told the commission that Ms Dus stood up at the meeting and stated “I resign, I am out of here”. She then sat at reception for about an hour, assisting in the bar area for approximately 10 minutes, making coffees.
Ms Wallace considered that Ms Dus had resigned her employment and chose not to
allow her to withdraw it.
She did not want to give her a second chance and held concerns about Ms Dus’s continued insistence on bringing her very large dog to work when it was not permitted, and her alleged tardiness.
The claims were backed up by two other witnesses who also attended the hearing.
The commissioner found that Ms Dus acted unreasonably and that Ms Wallace appeared to take a “no-nonsense approach”.
“Ms Wallace probably said things that Ms Dus did not want to hear. However, I consider that
Ms Wallace could have been even more firm with Ms Dus if she had wanted to.
“Whichever account is correct, I consider that any one of them constitutes a clear and
unambiguous statement that Ms Dus was resigning and no longer wished to be employed.”
The matter was dismissed.
Originally published as Ex-staffer in employment fight with embattled Italian club