fb

How did he get away with this?

How did he get away with this?

Picture the scene. It’s the office Christmas party and you’ve had a couple of drinks. You’re relaxed and are having a good time.

So far so good but what would you do next?

Would you:

a) Carry on in a chilled relaxed way to enjoy yourself and celebrate the festive period, or

b) Drink too much, tell one of the directors of the company and a senior project manager to (rude word removed so as not to offend any of our readers) off, make a female colleague cry by telling her that she was a stuck up (another rude word deleted), keep on pestering another female colleague to go horse riding together, hold another female colleague’s face in your hands and kiss her on the mouth and then finish the evening off by asking another female colleague what colour underwear she was wearing.

Whilst most normal people would opt for option a), Stephen Keenan, a team leader at Leighton Boral and Amey Joint Venture in Australia chose option b).

Mr Keenhan had reportedly had about 10 beers and one vodka and was by all accounts extremely drunk.

Telling a director to “go forth and multiply” as well as insulting female colleagues and kissing them against their wishes isn’t the most impressive way to act during a Christmas party and it was probably no surprise when he was called into the office on his return to work after the Christmas break to be told that he would be dismissed for sexual harassment.

However, what will probably come as a bit of a surprise though was that he made a claim for unfair dismissal at the Australian Fair Work Commission (FWC) and surprisingly enough he actually won his case.

Yes, despite insulting a number of his colleagues and trying to kiss a female colleague against her wishes he won his case for unfair dismissal.

Adam Hatcher, a vice-president at the FWC found that none of the incidents were valid grounds for dismissal and concluded that Mr Keenan had been unfairly dismissed.

The FWC tribunal found that there was no evidence the board member took offence or remembered the incident. They also found that proposing to meet up with a colleague was not sexual harassment and the kiss occurred in the upstairs bar after the function had officially ended. As a result it was not connected to Mr Keenan’s employment.

Mr Hatcher also said that “In my view, it is contradictory and self-defeating for an employer to require compliance with its usual standards of behaviour at a function but at the same time to allow the unlimited service of free alcohol at the function,”

In other words, the employee couldn’t be held responsible as the employer had partly contributed to the actions by serving unlimited free drinks.

Now whilst Mr Keenhan is no doubt pretty happy about the decision (and in fact will probably head out for a few celebratory drinks…), the decision of the tribunal is causing a fair amount of concern for some people in Australia. After all, the fact that an employee’s unacceptable behaviour was excused due to free alcohol being supplied by the employer has led some to worry that to avoid such a situation in the future, Australian firms may stop providing free alcohol at their Christmas parties.

Share this entry

Related articles

View All Articles

Recent articles

View All Articles
Women at the Top: EY Becomes First Big Four Firm with Dual Female Leaders
Apr 01, 2025
Title
Women at the Top: EY Becomes First Big Four Firm with Dual Female Leaders
Excerpt

EY has just made history – Alison Duncan will take over as UK Chair of EY, joining forces […]

When Audits Fail: PwC, Wyelands Bank, and the £2.9M Mistake
Mar 26, 2025
Title
When Audits Fail: PwC, Wyelands Bank, and the £2.9M Mistake
Excerpt

What happens when auditors fail to properly understand the business they’re auditing? That’s the question at the heart […]

Volkswagen sells more sausages than cars
Mar 18, 2025
Title
Volkswagen sells more sausages than cars
Excerpt

No, we’ve not made an early April Fools Joke. It’s true. Volkswagen do sell more sausages than cars. […]

EY UK restructures leadership: 30 partners to exit
Mar 16, 2025
Title
EY UK restructures leadership: 30 partners to exit
Excerpt

The professional services industry is experiencing a shift, with EY announcing one of its most significant partner redundancy […]

Worth its weight in gold?
Mar 14, 2025
Title
Worth its weight in gold?
Excerpt

When most people think of gold, they picture sparkling jewellery, luxury accessories, or even Olympic medals. But gold […]

Over paid, under performing… the players or the shares?
Mar 11, 2025
Title
Over paid, under performing… the players or the shares?
Excerpt

Manchester United recently announced plans for a new 100,000-capacity stadium, with an estimated cost exceeding £2 billion. While […]

Top 10 unusual KPIs: strange ways businesses measure success
Mar 04, 2025
Title
Top 10 unusual KPIs: strange ways businesses measure success
Excerpt

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are essential for businesses to measure performance and track progress. While traditional KPIs focus […]

Bull vs. Bear Markets: what do they mean?
Feb 28, 2025
Title
Bull vs. Bear Markets: what do they mean?
Excerpt

If you keep up with the financial press, you’ll come across terms like “bear market,” “bull market,” and […]