A Nowra airconditioning technician who shattered a basketball backboard while on a job has failed to win his job back through the Fair Work Commission.
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Bodine Lander had worked for Nowra-based airconditioning business Simmark for just over four years and was considered their most senior air-conditioning tradesman.
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He also had an unblemished employment record - until an incident on May 6 this year which saw him sacked.
He then lodged an unfair dismissal claim in the Fair Work Commission.
Mr Lander and an apprentice were on a residential site for a job that required the supply of refrigerant gas into air conditioning systems.
Realising they didn't have enough gas to complete the work, he arranged the delivery of another cylinder.
A portable basketball hoop was in a paddock next to the work site and, to pass the time, the pair began shooting baskets using clumps of dirt in lieu of a ball
"As part of this 'shooting goals' activity the applicant picked up a small rock and threw it at the basketball hoop and it shattered the tempered glass backboard," Commissioner Ian Cambridge's judgement stated.
Mr Lander told his boss, the client and the owner of the basketball hoop, and offered to pay for its repair or replacement.
At a work meeting on the Monday morning, Mr Lander was suspended with pay while his employer decided on a punishment.
Later that same day Mr Lander was sacked via email.
"The letter stated that the applicant's actions had seriously damaged the employer's reputation and could have resulted in injury to the applicant or others," the judgement read.
"The letter communicated that the employer treated the applicant's conduct as serious misconduct."
At the unfair dismissal hearing, Mr Lander said he had never received any warnings, was never late for work and never acted outside of a professional level.
He questioned the claim that he had caused damage to the reputation of his employer's business, noting that as no-one outside the company other than the client would have known, the only reputation damaged was his own due to the rumours that were spreading about his dismissal.
In response his employer stated the incident had happened in a small town "where word travels very quickly" and they could not be seen to be condoning Mr Lander's actions.
The employer added it was not a "minor event" but rather "dangerous and reckless behaviour".
Justice Cambridge ruled that Mr Lander's dismissal was not unfair.
"The evidence has established that, in particular, the potential reputational damage arising from the serious misconduct of the applicant caused irreversible and fatal damage to the employment relationship," his ruling stated.
"In conclusion, the applicant was dismissed for valid reason involving his established misconduct during the basketball backboard incident."
