A Brisbane-based transport company has been ordered to pay more than $30,000 in penalties to the Fair Work Ombudsman after failing to pay compensation to a truck driver it unfairly dismissed.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court imposed a $26,292 penalty on Michael Lawler Transport Pty Ltd and a $5258 penalty on Michael Lawler, the company’s part-owner and sole director, after it refused to comply with a Fair Work Commission order to compensate its former employee Harish Kumar.
Kumar was employed by the transport company from July 2022. He was let go without explanation in November 2023.
Michael Lawler Transport Pty Ltd and its owner have been ordered to pay over $30,000 in penalties.Credit: Scott McNaughton
According to documents filed to the Fair Work Commission last year, the disagreement began when Lawler asked Kumar to wash a company truck.
Kumar said he had performed a “normal wash” on the truck, but had been asked to do an “acid wash”, which he would not do in heavy rain as it would be “slippery” and unsafe.
The following morning, Kumar was given shifts to drive to Caboolture at 6.10am. He was later contacted by Lawler who told him “not to come to work for a while”.
Kumar contacted Lawler that afternoon, writing: “I understand you are unhappy with me after not cleaning the truck, yet as I explained, the task was [not] possible to complete under such heavy rainfall due to it being life-threatening.”
He continued that he loved his job, but “I love being alive more” and asked for an explanation of Lawler’s comment that he should not attend work “for a while”.
“Am I being fired? Am I receiving a warning? Am I on paid leave? Please explain,” he wrote.
