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A Melbourne lawyer and former Greens local government candidate was terminated after his employers discovered he had faked an illness to attend the AFL Gather Round in Adelaide.
On either side of the 2024 AFL Gather Round, Mitchell Fuller told his employers at Madison Branson Lawyers that he was sick and would be unable to attend the office. Instead, he was in Adelaide to attend games, spend time on the beach with mates, and drink beers at a pub.
Pictures posted of the weekend on his social media and discovered by the firm several months later ended up being his undoing.
In dealing with Fuller’s unfair dismissal application, deputy president Andrew Bell of the Fair Work Commission said his conduct and attitude was “utterly incompatible with his ongoing employment as a solicitor at the firm, where integrity and honesty are paramount”.
Not only had Fuller made false representations to his employer, but he was also found to have given false evidence to the commission.
“The most generous conclusion that could be made is that Fuller was simply indifferent to the accuracy of his witness statement to the point of falsity. Either way, it is conduct no witness should engage in; for a practising solicitor giving evidence about a critical event, it is inexcusable,” Bell said in dismissing the application.
The commission heard Fuller thought about taking sick leave around March 2024 to “de-stress” but initially declined the early April trip to Adelaide. Despite the Easter breach occurring at the end of March, Fuller decided he needed a “further break” and changed his mind.
Fuller told the commission he considered taking annual leave but believed it would not be approved because one of the two principal lawyers at the firm would only do so “one month in advance”.
Flights and tickets to one of the AFL games were purchased in the lead-up to his travel plans to Adelaide on the Thursday night, but he did not mention any of this or apply for leave.
On the Friday morning, he told the firm he had a “tough time sleeping” and was not “feeling up for coming into the office”. Bell found Fuller knew this was misleading when he wrote it.
“A general part of Fuller’s case is that he was unwell and entitled to take sick leave. I am not satisfied he was sick or unfit to work. Fuller led no evidence of illness beyond his own word,” Bell added.
According to Fuller’s evidence, the “original plan” was to travel back to Melbourne on the Sunday night, allowing him to return to work on the Monday. Instead, he told the firm he was “still in a bit of discomfort” and was unable to take the public transport into work.
Bell said the Sunday claim was “simply not credible in the face of the planning involved for the weekend, the weekend itself, the evasive language used to explain his absence, and a medical certificate that rises no higher than information provided by Fuller (which is not known)”.
In May 2024, Fuller was preselected as a candidate for local government elections set to take place in October 2024. According to a Facebook profile under the name “Mitch Fuller – Greens for South Yarra”, Fuller made a concession in November 2024.
While it was not itself a matter relevant to his dismissal, the significant time commitment would have been relevant to remedy.
In late June 2024 – prior to the firm becoming aware of this weekend away – one of the principals discovered Fuller had been working on a locked file despite a direction not to do so. The commission heard Fuller was using another matter to record the time he worked.
It was around this time the firm turned to a human resources consultant, who then conducted the social media review.
Having formed a “strong opinion” about the misleading statutory declaration and false statement, one of the firm’s principals contacted the Legal Services Board + Commissioner for Victoria. It is unclear whether this complaint amounted to anything.
While there were parts of Fuller’s declaration that Bell found to be inaccurate, he did not find Fuller “knowingly made a false declaration”.
“Specifically, I consider the statement ‘I was unwell and unable to work’ was contrary to the evidence before me, but whether Fuller did not believe the declaration is less clear,” Bell clarified.
The case is: Mitchell Fuller v Madison Branson Lawyers Pty Ltd (U2024/10086).
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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