A woman sacked by Telstra for cavorting naked and having sex with a fellow employee at a hotel following a work Christmas party has had her initial legal win overturned.
Carlie Streeter, an employee in a Telstra retail store, was sacked after several fellow employees complained that they had been harassed when she had a bath with two men and sex with another in a hotel room while they were nearby.
Streeter refused to acknowledge that the events had occurred when Telstra investigated the incident and was sacked shortly afterwards because they believed she had been “dishonest”.
In a first hearing in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, Streeter admitted that the events had occurred, but her claim for unfair dismissal was upheld on the basis that the conduct she had engaged in was of a highly personal nature and there was no connection with her character or performance as an employee.
But that decision was rejected on appeal, the Commission full bench finding that it was Streeter’s dishonesty with her employer, rather than her conduct in the hotel room, that meant the dismissal was warranted.
“Streeter’s dishonesty during the investigation meant Telstra could not be confident Ms Streeter would be honest with it in the future. The relationship of trust and confidence between Telstra and Ms Streeter was, thereby, destroyed,” the Commission found.
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