Earlier this week, the Australian Fair Work Commission ruled that a complaint about a real estate agent's supervisor "bullying at work" should be upheld. While the list of complaints was lengthy, one of them, about being unfriended on Facebook, may make Australian coworkers think twice about how they interact online

According to the FWC's decision, a Tasmanian woman named Rachael Roberts had received unfair and unkind treatment from supervisor Lisa Bird—along with her husband, agency owner James Bird—that went on for months. Beyond aggressive and even sexually suggestive comments and treatment, however, an incident in late January was the one that crossed a line enough for Roberts to file her complaint. On that occasion, Roberts was taken aside by Lisa Bird after she had lodged complaints about various, frequent workplace issues to the owner.

Roberts was allegedly scolded by Bird in person, including being described as "a naughty little schoolgirl running to the teacher," and after that confrontation ended, Roberts checked her phone to see if any negative stories about the incident had been posted to Facebook. At that point, Roberts confirmed that she'd been unfriended by Lisa Bird—a fact that was corroborated by SMS messages almost immediately afterward between Roberts and James Bird.

The Commission specifically cited the Facebook unfriending in its decision, saying that it "evince[d] a lack of emotional maturity and is indicative of unreasonable behaviour," then clarified the point by saying, "Mrs. Bird took the first opportunity to draw a line under the relationship with Ms. Roberts on 29 January 2015, when she removed her as a friend on Facebook, as she did not like Ms. Roberts and would prefer not to have to deal with her."

However, that unfriending incident was one of eight occasions that constituted "unreasonable behavior" at the workplace, meaning the FWC didn't necessarily rule that a coworker's Facebook deletion, in isolation, counted as an act of bullying by default.

The ruling was handed down in compliance with Australia's 2009 Fair Work Act, whose text mentions efforts to protect employees who have been bullied by coworkers and who face "a risk that [they] will continue to be bullied at work." However, the Act does not include specific terms for compensation or resolution, and Wednesday's decision merely saw the FWC request that the bullying stop and that there should be "a conference between the parties to discuss the order."