Sacked TAC worker Matthew Morrissy takes case to Fair Work Commission after allegations he rolled his eyes in a meeting

A TAC worker lost his job after making this unassuming gesture during a meeting. Now he’s taken his employer to Fair Work.

TAC worker Matthew Morrissy claimed his dismissal was “harsh, unjust or unreasonable”. Picture: Peter Ristevski

A sacked TAC worker was unfairly dismissed amid allegations he rolled his eyes in a meeting.

Matthew Morrissy, 50, went to the Fair Work Commission after being told his job of almost 14 years with the Transport Accident Commission was being terminated in June last year.

He claimed his dismissal was “harsh, unjust or unreasonable”.

But the TAC said “serious misconduct” by Mr Morrissy – including rolling his eyes and rocking back and forth in his seat “as though he was trying to contain his anger” during a team meeting — justified ending his employment.

Fair Work Commissioner Sophie Mirabella this week ruled the TAC’s firing of Mr Morrissy was unfair.

“Whether Mr Morrissy had rolled his eyes or not, or rocked in his chair, this cannot reasonably be considered a sackable offence and certainly not an act of gross misconduct,” Ms Mirabella said.

“There is no valid reason for Mr Morrissy’s dismissal related to his conduct or any breach of policy. An absence of a valid reason weighs in favour of the conclusion that the dismissal was unfair.”

The road safety regulator had told a Fair Work hearing that Mr Morrissy breached multiple company policies, pointing to his behaviour in Zoom meetings in August 2020 and March last year.

They said they received complaints by other staff following the August meeting claiming Mr Morrissy had spoken to a female colleague in an “aggressive and offensive” tone when he hinted she should suggest ideas when she didn’t like those being put by their team manager.

The next month, he was called into a meeting with management where he was counselled and later offered an apology to the woman for his “disrespectful tone”.

But it didn’t end there, with the TAC then engaging an external party to do a report on how best Mr Morrissy and the woman could work more productively together.

In March last year, Mr Morrissy was hauled back before another meeting to discuss the findings of the report.

During this meeting, Mr Morrissy said he was left “gobsmacked” when one of TAC’s in-house solicitors was allowed to read out a statement which included her own history of surviving abuse at the hands of a former partner and the “possible impact” of Mr Morrissy’s conduct during the earlier August meeting she did not attend.

He advised he believed the dispute between him and his female colleague at that meeting had been dealt with six months earlier.

Further complaints were made claiming he rolled his eyes and had no sympathy for the solicitor who was an abuse survivor when she read out her statement.

He denied rolling his eyes and was stood down with pay while an investigation took place.

A month later, his boss Damian Poel sacked him, despite being advised by HR a warning would be a suitable punishment.

Ms Mirabella said Mr Morrissy had an “unblemished performance record” and was keen to return to his job as an interstate claims co-ordinator, assisting Victorians who had been injured in crashes while they were interstate.

Ms Mirabella added there was no reason he shouldn’t be reinstated, with the TAC office in Geelong of significant size to move him into a new team.

But she asked the TAC to provide her with further written submissions before she will make any order against them to give his job back or pay him for remuneration lost.