A championship-winning Wollongong footballer has been awarded more than $16,000 in compensation after a court found he was unfairly sacked for not having his COVID-19 vaccinations up-to-date.
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Alvin Ceccoli, who was part of the Wollongong Wolves glory days when they won back-to-back National Soccer League grand finals in 2000 and 2001, lost his job at emergency services training organisation Fire and Safety Australia in February.
The company said he failed to comply with its COVID-19 vaccination policy on time, despite Mr Ceccoli having a doctor's exemption from getting a second shot for four months after he contracted the virus.
Fair Work Commissioner Alana Matheson found Fire and Safety Australia was "harsh, unjust and unreasonable" in its rush to sack Mr Ceccoli via email, which happened just one minute after a phone call informing him he had until the end of the day to provide stronger evidence of his exemption.
"There was no valid reason for the dismissal based on his capacity or conduct, and the manner in which he was dismissed was particularly harsh," she said in her judgement.
According to a judgement published by the Fair Work Commission, the company required employees to be double vaccinated, with the first shot by December 2021.
Mr Ceccoli got his first vaccine in mid November, and booked a second on January 10.
However, while he was on leave in early January he caught COVID-19 and couldn't attend his second appointment, and told the company he was exempt from vaccination for a certain period of time after having the virus.
The company pointed him to government advice that said there was no need to delay vaccination as long as he had recovered, but acknowledged an exemption may be possible if confirmed by a doctor.
Mr Ceccoli returned from leave on January 31, working from home via Zoom due to his vaccination status, when Fire and Safety Australia CEO Steve McLeod sent him a letter saying his refusal to be fully vaccinated within seven days without a legitimate exemption may result in termination.
Mr Ceccoli booked an appointment with his doctor on February 1 and was given a note saying he could be exempt from his second COVID shot for four months.
Concerned this wouldn't be enough, Mr Ceccoli discovered an official form was required and called his doctor's surgery multiple times seeking the correct form.
According to the judgement, he had not received this by the morning of February 7, and called the doctor's office three times "as he was becoming increasingly alarmed at not having the exemption form".
At 4.33pm, Mr McLeod called to ask for proof of his vaccination status.
When Mr Ceccoli said he did not have the form but was chasing his doctor to get it as soon as possible, he was told "you have failed to comply with our policy and I am terminating your employment".
One minute after the end of the call, he was emailed a termination letter.
Eight minutes after that, at 4.45pm, Mr Ceccoli received the forms from his doctor and tried to send them to his manager. However, his access to the company's email system has already been revoked.
He then called Mr McLeod at 5.01pm to say he had the forms - after having trouble locating his number due to being locked out of the system - and was told "It doesn't matter Alvin, I've terminated your employment. I am not changing my mind."
Commissioner Matheson found that there was no valid reason for Mr Ceccoli to be sacked, as he "quickly took steps" get the right evidence regarding his vaccination status and that this "would have been acceptable to the reasonable employer in the context of his circumstances".
"I also observe that, as at the current time, the ATAGI guidance states that all people are recommended to defer COVID-19 vaccination for three months after a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection," she said.
She also noted the company had concerns about Mr Ceccoli's performance before his dismissal, and had served him two prior written warnings in the year leading up to his sacking.
The company said Mr Ceccoli had a history of not complying with policies, procedures, directions, sales targets and requirements regarding appropriate behaviour, Commissioner Matheson noted.
"It seems likely that the Respondent was eager to bring the Applicant's employment to an end and I find that it did so prematurely," she said.
She said if Mr McLeod had waited until the close of business on February 7 - a mere 23 minutes after he sent the termination email - she would have been able to find there was a valid reason for the dismissal.
She found that, as Mr Ceccoli had found other employment as a cement truck driver, it was not appropriate for him to be reinstated and awarded him compensation.
Due to the company's concerns about other aspects of Mr Ceccoli's work, she calculated that he would only have remained employed there for another 12 weeks, when he would have earned about $24,000.
As he was paid roughly $8000 in leave payments on his departure, this amount was reduced to $16,000.
Mr Ceccoli told the Mercury he would have liked to have received more as he was out of a job for three months, but was pleased that "justice prevailed" in the commissioner's finding about his unfair dismissal.
He said he had been "shocked" by his employer's behaviour and said he thought his sacking had been planned out in advance which is why his termination letter was delivered so abruptly.
"I'm just glad justice prevailed in the end, because you can't treat people like that," he said.
"It wasn't about the money, it was more about the justice. I didn't do anything wrong - I complied with all the policies."
He said he had held some concerns about the vaccine and its side effects, and wasn't happy about being "forced" into having it.
"I was definitely hesitant - but I did it, because we had to follow the health advice," he said.
"But I did what I had to do because I didn't want to lose my job."
Mr Ceccoli said he did not end up having his second vaccination after he lost his job.