Recent FWC Decision – sharing the blame

Unfortunately, accidents do happen and are quite common in the workplace. Because of these occurrences, and the risks to employees and often the public’s health and safety, it is important to ensure effective control measures are in place as well as processes for dealing with accidents if they do occur.

The recent Fair Work Commission decision of McFadden v Mars Australia Pty Ltd [2026] FWC 2772 is an important reminder that employers must consider the conduct of all participants, not just the most convenient individual.

What happened?

Ms Linda McFadden had worked for Mars Australia for approximately 23 years and held a team leader role. The incident occurred where a forklift punctured a 850kg carton of mints. Ms McFadden and a food safety specialist initially agreed that around half of the product should be salvaged and half discarded, however only 80kg was binned. Ms McFadden was investigated for breaches of safety standards and procedures, and consequently terminated for serious misconduct.

The evidence indicated that Ms McFadden did not instruct a deviation from the safety specialists instruction, but rather the instruction was not properly carried out.  There were several individuals involved in the process, including operators, a leading hand, material handlers and the food safety specialist, each acting outside of the required procedures. Despite this, Mars’ disciplinary investigation focused primarily on Ms McFadden.

The Commission ultimately found that the dismissal of a long-serving employee was harsh, unjust and unreasonable, ordering her reinstatement with continuity of service and back pay.

Lessons for employers

This decision provides several practical lessons for employers and HR practitioners.

1. Investigations should not be too narrow: If evidence emerges suggesting that multiple employees contributed to a failure, the investigation should expand accordingly.
2. Avoid targeting a single employee: Where a workplace incident results from a chain of decisions involving multiple people, each participant’s role must be assesses fairly and consistently.
3. Match culpability to accountability: Where failures arise from system weaknesses, communication breakdowns or shared decision-making, it is inappropriate to attribute sole responsibility to one person without compelling evidence.

If you have any questions regarding your entitlements under the RTCCO, please contact the Workplace Relations Team on:

📞 (02) 6175 5900
📧 workplace@mba.org.au