Farrelly v Seasonair Pty Ltd [2015] FWC 2334: Misuse of Credit Card

The Fair Work Commission has upheld an employer’s decision to terminate an employee for misuse of credit card in the case of James Farrelly v Seasonair Pty Ltd [2015] FWC 2334. The Adelaide plumbing manager, James Farrelly, was sacked for buying two cartons of beer for a company Christmas party with the company credit card given to him.

Background

James Farrelly was the owner and operator of a plumbing business prior to it being acquired by Adelaide-based mechanical service provider Seasonair in 2014. The business subsequently employed Farrelly to continue developing its plumbing operations. Farrelly was also given a company credit card and was provided specific training on how the card should be used and its strict limitations. This included specific instructions that any questionable expenditure should be checked with Seasonair’s managing director.

In December 2014, Farrelly approached the managing director regarding a Christmas party for the plumbing department he was in charge of. Farrelly’s request was denied in favour of holding one company-wide Christmas party. Nevertheless, the plumbing department organised its own private Christmas party. Farrelly purchased two cartons of beer using the company credit card for this occasion totaling $114.98. He attempted to characterised the expenditure as a “supplier gift.”

Farrelly was subsequently terminated from his position for misuse of company credit card which represented a serious misconduct and breached the trust and confidence of the company.

Decision

Senior Deputy President Matthew O’Callaghan found that as Farrelly was aware that the requested Christmas party had been rejected, it should have occurred to him that any company expenditure associated with that party would also be rejected:

An important aspect of the decision focused on Farrelly’s flagrant violation of a clear directive from management. Workplace lawyer Peter Vitale explained that Farrelly had been given specific training on the usage of the card and had been given specific direction in relation to the Christmas party. That he went against all this is a clear breach and justified termination. 

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 James Farrelly v Seasonair Pty Ltd [2015] FWC 2334