Mr Stephen Jackson

The matter before the Fair Work Commission involved an application by Mr Stephen Jackson for an order to stop alleged bullying at work. Mr Jackson had made the application against his former employer, which was not named in the decision. The primary dispute centred around the cessation of Mr Jackson’s employment prior to the hearing, which raised questions about the ongoing relevance of the application. The nature of the decision was a dismissal of the application for an order to stop bullying due to the lack of a reasonable prospect of success, given that Mr Jackson was no longer employed by the respondent.

The key legal issue before the Commission was whether the application could proceed in the absence of the applicant's ongoing employment with the respondent. The Commission considered whether the risk of bullying re-occurring was sufficient to warrant a continuation of the proceedings. Additionally, the Commission had to assess whether the application had a reasonable prospect of success given Mr Jackson’s departure from the workplace.

In dismissing the application, the Commission noted that the primary purpose of such orders is to prevent continued exposure to bullying in the workplace. Given that Mr Jackson was no longer employed by the respondent, there was no risk of continued bullying. The Commission concluded that the application did not have a reasonable prospect of success because the primary objective of the order to stop bullying could not be achieved. The Commission emphasised that its role was to protect employees from ongoing exposure to bullying, which was not possible in this case.

The Fair Work Commission dismissed the application for an order to stop bullying on the basis that there was no reasonable prospect of success. The Commission did not make any orders, as the application was effectively rendered moot by the applicant’s departure from the respondent’s employment.