No other witness alleged that Mr D cried out in pain.
24 In her written statement dated 14 December 2005, Ms S Bowley gave this account:
(Mr D) had a magazine in his hand. Colin tried to take it out of his hands. (Mr D) reached out to Colin. I heard Colin shout out "don't hit me". I was standing near another resident and I observed Colin use an open hand and hit (Mr D's) head on the left side. He then punched him on his right arm and then bent (Mr D's) right arm.
25 This is the only evidence from a witness who observed the incident, that there was a hit, a punch, and a twist or bending, of the right arm.
26 Ms S Bowley's initial account to Mr Coventry was generally consistent with that of other witnesses. Her later evidence was not. It is significant and of concern that in her first interview with Mr Coventry, she made no mention of Mr Prior punching Mr D.
27 Ms S Bowley denied talking to Ms Fitzgerald during 13 December 2005 about what had occurred between Mr Prior and Mr D. This was in direct conflict with Ms Fitzgerald's evidence that the two had talked about what they had seen on the afternoon of 13 December 2005.
28 On 14 December 2005, Ms Tracey Fitzgerald provided a written statement of the incident. From where she was standing she had a partial view of the resident, Mr D, sitting in a lock up chair. She described his arms being outstretched towards Mr Prior who was standing directly in front of him. Ms Fitzgerald then saw Mr Prior strike out with his right hand in the direction of Mr D and although she did not see Mr Prior's hand connect with Mr D, she did hear it connect. Ms Fitzgerald accepted that she could not be sure that any noise she heard was Mr Prior's hand connecting with anything. Subsequently, she stated in cross-examination that she heard something, but observed the noise could have been someone moving their feet on the floor. From the position of the two, she assumed it to be in the region of Mr D's head. Mr Prior then grabbed Mr D's right arm with both hands and proceeded to squeeze and twist his arm for a period of about five seconds. Ms Fitzgerald also noticed that Mr Prior had a very angry expression on his face. Ms Fitzgerald reported what she had witnessed to Mr Coventry, at 9.00 am on 13 December 2005.
29 There was no evidence of a punch being seen by Ms Fitzgerald.
30 The evidence of the nurses who observed the incident between Mr Prior and Mr D differed in various respects as is not surprising in respect of an incident which occurred in a matter of seconds. Ms Melanni Bridges was standing in the kitchen doorway on the right hand side of the ward and looking into the small area of the dining room when she heard Mr Prior say to Mr D "don't you hit me". She then saw Mr Prior's left hand come into contact with the left side of Mr D's face. Ms Bridges subsequently corrected her evidence stating that Mr Prior's left hand came into contact with the right side of Mr D's face. She took no steps to report the incident because it "didn't qualify as being something serious". Ms Bridges was not asked what she meant by the use of the phrase "come into contact", which of course could mean anything from an incidental brush, a tap, a slap, to a hard slap.
31 The appellant submits that on a proper assessment of this evidence, the contact could not amount to a use of force because Ms Bridges did not think it serious enough to report.
32 Ms Margaret Bowley's evidence was that she was looking down into the dining room when she heard the resident whom she identified as Mr D, say something. She then observed the resident's arms reach out and then observed Mr Prior hit back. She did not have a full view of the resident as this was blocked by part of a wall. She could only see Mr D's arms, but could clearly see Mr Prior.
33 Ms M Bowley stated that she saw Mr Prior grab the resident's right arm and twist it. This was the evidence that she gave in her interview. In her written statement prepared on 13 December 2005, her evidence was she "saw (Mr D's) arm swing out to hit at Colin and he also yelled something. Colin then swung his arm, I am not sure whether he put (Mr D) back down into the chair or what as I was unable to see (Mr D) from where I was. I then saw Colin grab (Mr D's) arm." Ms M Bowley described how she and Ms Fitzgerald had then looked at each other and that Ms Fitzgerald said something like "that was a bit excessive" or something like that and she had agreed with her.
34 It is from this evidence that the Commissioner found that Mr Prior hit, punched and twisted Mr D's arm. The Commissioner reconciled the different accounts and the absence of the reference to any punching in Ms Fitzgerald's and Ms M Bowley's accounts of the incident by observing that the criticism that had been made of the differing accounts had not been a concern to him because "it appears only natural that staff acknowledge seeing different parts of the whole exchange, depending upon where they stood and when they looked up". In the Commissioner's view, the differences, in fact, made the accounts more realistic and credible. The difficulty with this approach is that it is not what the evidence disclosed. There is no evidence at all to suggest that Ms S Bowley was in a better position to see what had happened or that she was watching for a longer period of time than the other witnesses. The Commissioner also noted that the evidence of the key witnesses was that they were alerted to the incident by the comment of Mr Prior who was alleged to have said, "don't you dare hit me" or "don't you hit me". It was this comment that caught the attention of the witnesses and caused them to look up. Ms Fitzgerald's evidence was that her attention was attracted by this comment. In such circumstances, it would be more likely that there was little difference in the versions of each witness.
35 Ms S Bowley's evidence was that the contact which constituted an assault, she alleged, occurred after Mr Prior said "don't you hit me". After this comment, Ms S Bowley saw the hit, the punch and the grabbing of the arm. All of the other witnesses gave evidence that they heard the words along the lines of "don't you hit me". They looked up but saw something quite different to what Ms S Bowley said she saw.
36 In relation to Mr Prior's claim that the resident grabbed his shirt, the Commissioner was faced with a similar assessment of the evidence. The Commissioner found that it was unlikely the resident grabbed Mr Prior's shirt because the witnesses all looked up at the time when Mr Prior said "don't you hit me" and therefore should have seen any shirt-grabbing. The Commissioner rejects the evidence of the shirt grabbing because no one saw it, but when analysing the evidence in respect of the hit and the punch which neither Ms Fitzgerald, nor Ms M Bowley saw, he concludes they must not have been looking at that time.
37 In our view, there is an inconsistency in the manner in which the Commissioner resolved the conflicts in the evidence as to what the witnesses saw. Either the witnesses were not looking and they could not have seen the shirt grabbing, or they were looking and they would have seen the punch. We will return to deal with the issue of shirt grabbing later.
38 The second reason why we are of the view that it is unsafe to rely on Ms S Bowley's evidence is the Commissioner's finding that witnesses must have had their vision, or their view of the incident somehow impaired. The witnesses' evidence was that they could fully, or partially at least, see the resident so there was nothing to suggest that witnesses in any way had their vision of the incident impaired. Both Ms Fitzgerald and Ms S Bowley could clearly see Mr Prior. However, the Commissioner appears to conclude that Ms S Bowley could see more of the incident. Importantly, during cross-examination, Ms S Bowley gave the following evidence in which she displayed an inability to answer questions about the incident:
Q: Were you standing stationery as your eyes were glued to Mr Prior, or were you moving around at the time?
A: Moving around.
Q: I'm sorry?
A: Probably moving around.
Q: Okay. Do you say you watched the whole incident from start to finish, or did you turn to look when you heard a commotion?
A: It just all happened so quick, it was just a commotion right from the beginning really. I heard - yes.
Q: When you say it all happened so quickly--
A: It did.
Q: --how quickly do you say it all happened?
A: Well, I heard him yell, "Don't hit me", and it was just like a tussle with a magazine.
Q: Yes, and I asked how long do you say the whole thing was from start to finish?
A: 30 seconds. 30 seconds, I don't know.
Q: You don't know?
A: No.
Q: As that 30 seconds was ticking away, did you stay in the same spot or did you move?
A: I think I stood there, I don't know.
Q: You don't know?
A: No.
Q: I'll just ask you, Ms Bowley, that you mark where you think you were standing on this plan. You see that that's the kitchen are and that's the dining area.
A: I've got no idea. No idea. I think I was around here somewhere. I don't know. I really don't know.
Q: If you don't know, you don't know..
A: I really tried to do that with the nursing staff before and it was six months ago.
Q: And what, you were unable to do it then?
A: Yes, I said whereabouts I was, but I was walking around.
Q: You were walking around. Was there another resident sitting immediately next to Mr Prior or along the same wall?
A: I don't know.
Q: You said that Mr D had a magazine in his hand?
A: Yes.
Q: Which hand did he have the magazine in?
A: I don't know. Probably both hands, I don't know.
39 It is clear Ms S Bowley was uncertain where she was standing when the incident occurred. This makes it extremely difficulty to compare what Ms M Bowley and Ms Fitzgerald could see with what Ms S Bowley said she could see in respect of endeavouring to determine whether she had a better view or not of the incident than anyone else. It follows, in our view, that there was no basis for the Commissioner to conclude that Ms S Bowley had a better view than anyone else of what was happening or that her version of events should in any way be given primacy over the evidence of other witnesses, particularly in respect of her evidence regarding the hitting and punching.
40 Ms S Bowley is the only witness who alleges that there was any punch which followed a slap to the head. To the extent that Ms Fitzgerald and Ms M Bowley gave evidence of some kind of movement which might be a hand making contact with the head, if they saw that, it seems to us to logically follow that they would have seen the punch because, according to Ms S Bowley's evidence, it came immediately between the alleged slap and the alleged arm twist. Ms Fitzgerald's evidence was that she saw a movement which resembled a slap and then saw a movement which could have been described as an arm twist, but she did not see a punch. She had an unimpeded view of the incident. Ms M Bowley, to the extent that she says she saw a movement by Mr Prior of his arm, which resembled a slap would have seen a punch if it occurred because her evidence was that she saw his arm move, although she was not sure for what purpose. She then saw Mr Prior grab the resident's arm. She saw the slap and the arm grabbing, or twisting, but not the punch.
41 Ms S Bowley's evidence is that she saw three distinct movements, the slap, a punch and an arm-twist. Ms Fitzgerald and Ms M Bowley saw two movements, one of which appears to be consistent with a slap and the other consistent with pushing or twisting of the arm. The Commissioner found three movements, based on Ms S Bowley's evidence.
42 In our view, had the Commissioner properly weighed this evidence, he could not have been comfortably satisfied that the evidence supported the finding that a punch occurred between the slap and the arm-twist because Ms Fitzgerald and Ms M Bowley were not looking, or their view was impaired. The evidence taken as a whole, does not support three forms of contact between Mr Prior and the resident.
43 Mr Prior's evidence was that he could not recall whether he said something like "don't hit me", or "don't you dare hit me". His evidence was that "I removed the magazine from Mr D and placed his meal in front of him on the table. Mr D then punched me in the left upper arm and grabbed me by the shirt. I then had to prise his fingers from my shirt and move his hand away. He then began eating his meal". The only witness who observed Mr Prior being grabbed on the arm by the resident was Ms S Bowley. The other witnesses did not exclude the possibility of the resident grabbing Mr Prior. However, their evidence is less precise and refers to "outstretched arms" by Mr D.
44 Assuming that Mr Prior said something like "don't hit me", it would seem more likely than not, that the shirt grabbing, to the extent it may have occurred, is more likely to have occurred before the punch, slap and arm twisting said to have concluded the exchange between Mr Prior and Mr D. If the witnesses did not see the shirt grabbing, which they should have, it is not plausible that three of the witnesses did not observe the punch. Both Ms Fitzgerald and Ms M Bowley did not see Mr D grab Mr Prior's shirt, but they did not completely reject that it may have occurred.
45 There are a number of other aspects of Ms S Bowley's evidence that, in our view, were so problematic that the Commissioner could not safely have relied upon her as the sole witness to establish the alleged three forms of contact by Mr Prior. These include the following:
(i) by the time of the interview, and her written statement following the interview, Ms S Bowley omitted her earlier description of seeing Mr D "hitting out" at Mr Prior, but could give no explanation for this;
(ii) by the time of giving her evidence, Ms S Bowley could no longer remember whether or not she saw Mr D "hit out" at Mr Prior, notwithstanding including it in her initial report;
(iii) Ms S Bowley also stated at the interview that she "thought CP had broken (Mr D's) arm". However, she neither reported the incident, nor examined the resident. She merely observed that the resident was moving his arm in the process of eating the meal served to him by Mr Prior. The undisputed fact that, following the exchange with Mr Prior over the magazine, Mr D proceeded to consume the meal served to him leads to the likelihood that the exchange was of such a minor nature that Mr D was not injured or upset. If the exchange had been as violent as Ms S Bowley describes, it is less likely that Mr D would continue to act routinely. Accordingly this evidence favours acceptance of Mr Prior's version of events;
(iv) Ms S Bowley denied talking to Ms Fitzgerald on 13 December 2005 about what had occurred. This was in direct conflict with Ms Fitzgerald's evidence that they had talked about what they had both seen in the afternoon of 13 December 2005. As the Commissioner recorded in his summary table of the evidence, both these witnesses stated in their original interviews that the words used by Mr Prior were "don't hit me" but in their subsequent "reports" altered the words to "don't you dare hit me";
(v) Ms S Bowley also displayed an apparent inability to recall the most simple of details regarding the incident during her evidence. This included that she could not recall if the resident had been violent towards her; she could not recall anything whatsoever that was said in the meeting with Mr Coventry on 13 December 2005; she could not remember where she was standing when the alleged incident between Mr Prior and the resident occurred; she could not remember which arm the resident was holding the magazine in; she could not remember with which hand Mr Prior allegedly punched the resident; she could not remember which hand or hands Mr Prior used to twist or bend the resident's arm.
46 Any of these matters in isolation may not be significant but taken as a whole, they have the capacity to result in a conclusion that Ms S Bowley had a very poor recall of the detail of the events with the exception of the hit, slap and punch. This is important in this case because the Commissioner has made a determination that the evidence of Ms S Bowley should be preferred over that of Mr Prior and the other witnesses in respect of any matter in dispute.
47 In dealing with the evidence of Ms M Bowley, who did not see the punch to the arm and the evidence of Ms S Bowley who did, the Commissioner determined that Ms M Bowley's evidence was of limited value in respect of this allegation, but not inconsistent with what Ms S Bowley observed. We consider that the Commissioner has posed to himself the wrong question regarding the evidence of these two witnesses. The appropriate approach is to determine whether there is evidence to support Ms S Bowley's observations in respect of the punch to the arm. Ms M Bowley's evidence cannot support both the punch and the slap. Importantly, it can only support one of these alleged assaults occurring. She, like Ms Fitzgerald, saw the resident lash out at Mr Prior, saw a movement of Mr Prior's arm and saw Mr Prior take the resident's arm and twist or push it. Properly analysed, this evidence is inconsistent with the evidence of Ms S Bowley in observing three different movements.
48 The same difficulty arises with Ms Bridges' evidence which the Commissioner has treated as consistent with, and supporting, the evidence of Ms S Bowley. Ms Bridges' evidence was that what she saw of the incident did not qualify as being something serious. Accepting this evidence, it cannot support (or be used to support as the Commissioner did) the conclusion, based on Ms S Bowley's evidence, that there was a significant strike, a slap and a punch. Ms Bridges' evidence does not support such a conclusion and is contrary to such a conclusion.
49 By way of a further example, the Commissioner gave weight to the fact that witnesses had not seen Mr D grab Mr Prior's shirt-front, and viewed it as "unlikely that they would have missed such a thing", yet declined to give weight to the fact that no witness, except Ms S Bowley, in her later accounts, claimed to have seen Mr Prior punch Mr D.
50 It was not open, in our view, for the Commissioner to find that there had been a hitting, with any force, on the basis of the evidence of Ms Bridges. It was not suggested by any witness that they saw more than one strike to the head of Mr D, so Ms Bridges could not have seen a different contact to that which Ms S Bowley observed. No witness suggested that there were two contacts to the head. There was no evidence to conclude that the hit was of some force.
51 Turning to the allegation of arm twisting, there is no doubt Mr Prior took hold of Mr D's arm and moved it away from him. What is not clear is the amount of force used by Mr Prior in his contact with the arm.
52 The evidence of Ms Fitzgerald, Ms M Bowley and Ms S Bowley enables a finding to be made that Mr Prior made contact with Mr D's arm by way of grabbing it. Both Ms S Bowley and Ms Fitzgerald refer to Mr Prior twisting Mr D's right arm in their written statements and Ms S Bowley, in cross-examination, describes "twist" as meaning "bent". Ms Fitzgerald makes no reference to twisting of the arm in her interview with Ms McIver on 13 December 2005, although she includes a reference to "twist his arm" in her written statement of 14 December 2005. In cross-examination, Ms Fitzgerald's evidence was that she had seen Mr Prior "grab" Mr D's arm. She agreed Mr Prior "twisted his arm back", concluding that this all means the same thing. Ms M Bowley's evidence, in cross-examination, was that Mr Prior "pushed it (the arm) down to the table with more force than I thought would have been necessary".
53 Although the Commissioner refers to the evidence of "arm twisting" he makes no finding as to what is meant by the twisting of the arm. A further troubling aspect of this evidence was that Ms S Bowley's evidence was that she thought at one stage, the resident's arm may have been broken. However, no medical assistance was provided to Mr D, nor is there any evidence of him complaining later in the evening in respect of his arm.
54 Each of the witnesses have different versions of the twisting of the arm. This has led us to conclude that it would be unsafe to find that a twisting of the arm occurred. There is no doubt, on the evidence, Mr Prior bent Mr D's arm in placing it back on the table. The different versions may be the result of Mr Coventry meeting with all four witnesses at 1.00 pm on 13 December 2005.
55 The Commissioner's findings in respect of slapping and punching were contrary to the weight of evidence. We do not consider that the evidence permitted the Commissioner to conclude, to the Briginshaw standard, that Mr Prior's reaction involved any significant level of violence or aggression towards Mr D, and certainly not violence or aggression that would justify summary dismissal.
56 It is also necessary to briefly deal with the evidence of Mr Prior that Mr D grabbed his shirt. This is of some importance because it affects the question of whether Mr Prior could have stepped back when Mr D, who was known to be aggressive and engage in violent behaviour, became aggressive. The proportionality of his response raises questions of mitigation. The Commissioner did not make any express finding about whether the shirt grabbing occurred, or not, but described it as "highly unlikely". This was despite the evidence of Ms S Bowley, who said Mr D "grabbed Mr Prior by the arm".
57 Mr Prior's statement, which he prepared on 13 December 2005, the day after the incident and before he was aware of the nature of the allegations being made by the other nurses, stated that at approximately 1700 hours he crushed Mr D's medication and put it in his mashed potato. He then took Mr D's dinner to him. Mr D was sitting restrained in a security chair. He was playing with a magazine which prevented Mr Prior from placing his meal on the tray in front of him. Mr Prior removed the magazine from Mr D and placed the meal on the table. Mr D then punched Mr Prior in the left upper arm and grabbed him by the shirt. He then had to prise his fingers from his shirt and move his hand away. Mr Prior walked back to the medication trolley to continue medications, observing Mr D eating his meal.
58 The Commissioner treated Mr Prior's evidence with some scepticism. The basis for this appears to be that Mr Prior did not raise this issue at the interview that occurred on 13 December 2005, but waited until the interview on 20 December 2005. However, there was no "interview" on 13 December 2005 with Mr Prior. A meeting occurred between Mr Coventry, who was not conducting the investigation and Mr Prior on 13 December 2005, when he was advised that he was suspended from duty. He was not told what had been alleged against him, only that it was alleged he had been involved in an assault. Mr Coventry recorded that Mr Prior had informed him that a resident known to have aggressive behaviour, did act unreasonably towards him and he was placed in a situation where he had to defend himself. He felt that he had done so in an acceptable manner.
59 Later, on 13 December 2005, before being provided with any details of the allegations, Mr Prior recorded, in writing, his account of what happened, including that Mr D had grabbed him by the shirt. He was not asked to provide his account of the events until the disciplinary interview which occurred on 20 December 2005, at which time he provided the written statement which he had prepared on 13 December 2005.
60 It was not open for the Commissioner to conclude that Mr Prior had not raised his claim that Mr D had grabbed his shirt until the meeting of 20 December 2005, as he was not provided with details of the allegations, or given an opportunity to respond until 20 December 2005. Further, it was not open to the Commissioner to take into account, that he had not offered any "greater particulars" of his response, after he received copies of witness statements. There was simply no basis to consider that this conduct by Mr Prior made his claim that Mr D grabbed him by the shirt, suspicious. This led the Commissioner not to place any weight on the fact that the incident may have commenced with a significant degree of aggression from the resident. Furthermore, it was not open to the Commissioner on a proper analysis of the appellant's evidence to find that he had been deliberately untruthful. The evidence concerned a brief incident which, on a proper consideration of all the evidence, was over in a few seconds. Mr Prior was not asked to give an account of what happened the day after it occurred. In our view, the finding by the Commissioner that Mr Prior had not raised his claim that Mr D grabbed his shirt was not open.
61 There are also a number of logical difficulties in the approach taken by the Commissioner in his lengthy analysis of the evidence against Mr Prior recorded at paras [296] to [303] of his decision which illustrate the concerns we have reached in respect of the decision under appeal. It is sufficient to refer here to the view formed by the Commissioner that the evidence of Ms S Bowley was the most reliable evidence notwithstanding a number of significant concessions she made in cross-examination. Further, the Commissioner makes reference to the evidence of other witnesses, which was inconsistent with that of Ms S Bowley, or not fully consistent with it, such evidence is discounted as being unreliable, of limited value, or consistent with some other part of what Ms S Bowley said she had seen.
62 We do not consider the approach adopted involved a proper weighing of all the evidence on the relevant aspects and, when properly analysed, shows reliance on conclusions reached as part of the reasoning process to reach the conclusions themselves.
63 These errors resulted in the Commissioner not being in a position to properly weigh the evidence and determine whether or not the dismissal was harsh, unjust, or unreasonable.
64 The Commissioner determined that the conduct of Mr Prior constituted a "fundamental and wilful repudiation of the contract of employment after taking into account mitigating factors."
65 We do not agree that it was open to the Commissioner to conclude that Mr Prior's conduct was wilful. Having made this finding, the Commissioner found that the dismissal was not unfair on this basis alone. Although the Commissioner took into account Mr Prior's six years of unblemished employment and the implications of the dismissal on his future career, he did not take into account such relevant factors that would properly have included the fact that aggressive behaviour on the part of Mr D provoked the response from Mr Prior; the fact that Mr D was not injured or marked in any way, suggesting that the response was at the appropriate level, and the failure of the respondent to provide 16 hours of mandatory training, required by the Department of Health, in management of difficult and aggressive behaviour.
66 These circumstances should have ameliorated the gravity of the conduct found by the Commissioner. Certainly, there was no factual basis to find that an assault had occurred.
67 Properly considered, the evidence must lead to the conclusion that the dismissal of Mr Prior was harsh, unjust and unreasonable in all the circumstances. Even taking the respondent's case at its highest, Mr Prior was guilty of a momentary lapse, responsive to some level of aggression by Mr D, in circumstances where he had an unblemished employment record.
68 The long established industrial approach to whether certain conduct justifies summary dismissal was stated by Cook J in Re Dispute - Dismissal of Union Delegates at Homebush Abattoir [1966] AR (NSW) 371 at 374 in terms that:
... the question of whether the conduct of an employee amounts to misconduct justifying instant dismissal would generally depend upon whether or not the act complained of can properly be regarded as deliberate or wilful or of such a nature as to strike out an essential element in the contract of service, namely, obedience to the lawful commands of the employer and the right of the employer to enforce discipline. ...
69 We would conclude on the evidence that findings may be reached to a state of reasonable satisfaction that Mr Prior grabbed the arm of the resident after the resident had "lashed out", "hit out" and/or was "swinging his arms to hit Mr Prior" and that Mr Prior made contact with his right hand to the resident's head. The Commissioner disregarded the fact that the incident commenced with a real amount of aggression from the resident, which we find, on the evidence, occurred. We also conclude that the evidence, when correctly assessed, made unsafe a finding that Mr Prior acted other than on a protective basis.
70 In light of these findings, we do not consider that the appellant's conduct here could properly be regarded as Cook J observed "of such a nature as to strike out an essential element in the contract of service". We conclude, therefore, that the findings made by the Commissioner as justifying the appellant's summary dismissal were not established. We have found that the Commissioner's findings manifest sufficient error to warrant an exception to the rule of appellate restraint: see Austin v NF Importers Pty Ltd & Anor at [6].
71 Another ground of appeal relied upon by the appellant was that the failure of the respondent to provide appropriate training to Mr Prior concerning management of aggression and violence in the workplace rendered the dismissal harsh, unjust and unreasonable. We agree with Mr Ginters' submission that such an approach is erroneous. In our view, nursing staff, teachers, police officers, and prison officers, to give but four examples, do not need a structured training course to educate them not to assault persons in their care or under their control. This should be self-evident and generally not require formal training. However, it is important to bear in mind that the New South Wales Occupational Health and Safety Legislation requires employers to provide their employees with information, instruction and training necessary to ensure their health and safety, and this is particularly important in the context of workplace violence.
72 In light of the findings that we have made, which will result in the appeal being upheld, the appellant's reliance on the training issue is misplaced. We would observe that there must be a limit upon the capacity of an employee to rely on a failure to be trained in accordance with programs that the employer may or may not have implemented to excuse or explain an inappropriate response, notwithstanding even extreme provocation.
73 The appellant sought reinstatement and compensation for wages lost as a result of the dismissal. The respondent asserted that reinstatement would be impracticable but that assertion was in part based on the allegations against Mr Prior being made out which is not in fact the case. In any event, there was no evidence of impracticability before Commissioner Murphy and we are mindful of the approach adopted by a Full Court (Wilcox CJ, Marshall and North JJ) of the then Industrial Relations Court of Australia in Perkins v Grace Worldwide (Aust) Pty Limited (1997) 72 IR 186 at 191 - 192, where their Honours observed that "[e]ach case must be decided on its own merits" but that "[i]n most cases, the employment relationship is capable of withstanding some friction and doubts". As their Honours further observed "[w]hat is important in the employment relationship is that there be sufficient trust to make the relationship viable and productive" and that "[i]f the employer is of even average fair mindedness, (the problems) are likely to prove short lived". Those comments were cited with approval by the Full Bench in Burge v NSW BHP Steel Pty Ltd (2001) 105 IR 325 at [35].
74 The only hesitation we have arises from the consideration that a number of other employees at the Garrawarra Centre gave evidence against Mr Prior and that may present some difficulties in returning to that location, albeit, difficulties falling far short of impracticability in any relevant sense. In those circumstances, it may be prudent to frame the relevant orders in the alternative to permit agreement being reached between the parties as to employment of Mr Prior at an alternative location within the respondent Area Health Service.