A lawyer who was sacked after taking sick days during an interstate trip to watch football has failed to get his old job back.
Melbourne-based solicitor Mitchell Fuller flew to Adelaide on Thursday, April 4, 2024 to attend the AFL’s Gather Round and enjoyed a long weekend of footy, beach and pub sessions.
Unfortunately for him, he was meant to work on the Friday and Monday but that didn’t stop the trip.
He took two sick days, made a statutory declaration he was unwell and got a medical certificate from an online provider.
“Had a tough time sleeping last night and am not feeling up to coming into the office,” he told his bosses at Madison Branson Lawyers on the Friday.
On the Monday, he told them he was still experiencing discomfort and “couldn’t hack taking public transport” while about 700 kilometres from his office, legal documents state.
Weeks later, a human resources consultant unearthed photos Fuller posted to Instagram of him at the football, beach and having beers on the weekend he said he was unwell.
The photos were used against him when he was fired, with his employers also accusing him of making a false statutory declaration.
Fuller launched an unfair dismissal case with the Fair Work Commission, however earlier this week the commission’s deputy president Andrew Bell found his termination was “not unfair”.
“To state the obvious, the real reason Mr Fuller could not come into the office was because he was in Adelaide, pursuant to a trip he planned and partly paid for four days earlier,” Bell stated in his findings.
“A general part of Mr Fuller’s case is that he was unwell and entitled to take sick leave.
“I am not satisfied he was sick or unfit to work. Mr Fuller led no evidence of illness beyond his own word.”
The lawyer said he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and at the start of 2024 there was a shortage of his usual medication.
A letter from Fuller’s doctor dated two months after his dismissal said the lawyer’ focus and energy levels has been impacted due to the shortage and he was “feeling unwell without his medication” on the Friday.
About a month after the trip, Fuller was selected as a Greens candidate for local government elections but failed to get elected.
He had had been unemployed for 19 weeks by the time he addressed the commission.
“Mr Fuller’s conduct and attitude was utterly incompatible with his ongoing employment as a solicitor at the firm, where integrity and honesty are paramount,” Bell said.
“This is not a matter where reinstatement would be appropriate.”
