Mrs Ljubinka Townsend v Lift Brands Australia

[2017] FWC 2657

[2017] FWC 2657

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.365 - Application to deal with contraventions involving dismissal

Mrs Ljubinka Townsend
v
Lift Brands Australia
(C2017/908)

COMMISSIONER HUNT BRISBANE, 16 MAY 2017

Application to deal with contraventions involving dismissal – application to amend.

[1] Mrs Ljubinka Townsend has made an application pursuant to s.365 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) for the Fair Work Commission (the Commission) to deal with a General Protections Dispute involving a dismissal.

[2] Mrs Townsend’s application was lodged on 17 February 2017 and stated she was employed by Lift Brands Australia (Lift Brands) from 20 January 2017 to 13 February 2017.

[3] The application alleges contraventions of sections 340, 343, 344, 351 and 352 of the Act

[4] Lift Brands lodged a ‘Form F8A – Response to general protections application’ on 24 February 2017 in which it denied it was the employer of Mrs Townsend.

[5] The matter was scheduled for conciliation before a staff conciliator on a number of occasions and for a variety of reasons a conciliation could not take place

[6] On 18 April 2017, Mrs Townsend made an application to the Commission to vary the Respondent named in her application from Lift Brands to GG Currumbin Pty Ltd T/A Snap Fitness (Snap Fitness).

[7] Mrs Townsend contended she had erroneously named Lift Brands Australia because it is a related franchisor of Snap Fitness and the line manager she had been reporting to in her employment was an employee of Lift Brands.

[8] At the direction of the Commission, Mrs Townsend filed payslips confirming that Snap Fitness was her employer at the time of her dismissal and Snap Fitness advised that it did not object to being named as the Respondent.

[9] Section 586 of the Act states:

“586 Correcting and amending applications and documents etc.

The FWC may:

(a) allow a correction or amendment of any application, or other document relating to a matter before the FWC, on any terms that it considers appropriate…”

Consideration

[10] I accept Mrs Townsend’s reasons for incorrectly naming Lift Brands as the Respondent to the application and note that Snap Fitness do not objection to the Commission making orders to amend the application to name them as the Respondent.

[11] Section 586 provides the Commission with a broad discretion to correct or amend an application ‘on any terms it considers appropriate’.

[12] For the above reasons I exercise my discretion pursuant to s.586(a) of the Act to amend the application. The Respondent will be amended from Lift Brands Australia to GG Currumbin Pty Ltd T/A Snap Fitness.

[13] An order [PR592874] to that effect will be issued with this decision.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

<Price code A, PR592923>