Imagine Getting Fired for Grieving. Spoiler: Fair Work Was Not Impressed.

An employee lost her grandmother suddenly and then she lost her job. Not surprisingly the small business owner then lost in the FWC.

This is a story about a grieving employee and a small business owner who thought they were in the right. The result was a Fair Work Commission decision that cost the employer over $8,500 because no one picked up the phone first.

This case is a good reminder that in HR, the process is often the problem, even when the intent isn’t bad.

What happened

An employee worked as a part-time supervisor and administrator at Tru Ninja, an indoor obstacle course in Penrith, NSW. In September 2025, her grandmother died unexpectedly. She texted her manager, said she couldn’t work, and asked for bereavement and personal leave.

Her employer’s response? Request documentation. Immediately.

The problem was straightforward: the death had just happened. There was no death certificate yet. No funeral notice. Nothing. Knott explained this. Her mother called to explain it too. Her cousin sent an email. The business kept sending emails asking for paperwork.

By October, the employee was issued a written warning, then a final warning the very next day, then fired on the spot, all at the same meeting she’d been told was just a “check-in.”

What the Commission found

Deputy President Slevin didn’t mince words. Asking a grieving employee to prove her grandmother had died within days of the death was unreasonable. The calls from the employee’s mother were firm, not abusive. The claim that they were threatening? Not substantiated.

There was no valid reason for dismissal. The process was a mess. And the employer admitted they had access to the Fair Work small business hotline but hadn’t called it before making the call to terminate her.

Tru Ninja was ordered to pay $7,596 in compensation plus $911.52 in super.

What this actually means for your business

This wasn’t a case of an employer trying to do the wrong thing. It looks more like a business that got flustered, felt disrespected, and acted too fast without the right advice. Which is so often the case. Businesses’ often feel aggrieved when employees don’t yield to a process or policy.

They then go off half baked, thinking they are in the right and this is exactly the situation that costs small businesses tens of thousands of dollars at Fair Work every year.

A few things every business owner needs to know coming out of this case:

You can ask for evidence of bereavement leave, but the timing has to be reasonable. You cannot demand a death certificate three days after someone dies. Under the National Employment Standards, employees are entitled to two days of compassionate leave per occasion, and evidence requirements must be reasonable in the circumstances.

A grieving employee’s family stepping in to advocate for them is not misconduct. Being firm on a phone call is not a sackable offence.

Issuing a warning, a final warning, and a termination in a 24-hour window does not give an employee a genuine opportunity to respond. That alone is enough to lose a Fair Work claim, regardless of what else was going on.

The phone call that wasn’t made.

The part of this case that sticks with us is this: the director knew the small business hotline existed. They just didn’t use it.

One conversation with someone who knew the rules could have changed the outcome entirely. Instead, the business made a series of decisions that seemed reasonable in the moment but unravelled under scrutiny.

That’s not a legal problem, it’s an HR problem. And it’s exactly the kind of thing we help businesses avoid every day.

Don’t wait until you’re in a hearing to get advice.

If you’re unsure how to handle a leave dispute, a performance issue, or a dismissal, that’s the moment to call us, not after you’ve issued the termination letter.

This is exactly the type of advice we could provide within the HR Gurus Membership Club, and at only $879 + GST per annum it is a small price to pay for peace of mind that you wont end up in the FWC and in the news.

Get in touch with HR Gurus and let’s make sure your next tough HR call is the right one.