In September 2018, the Federal Court awarded former Local Shack cook Lovanitasign Veeraragoo $8191 in compensation and its general manager at the time was ordered to personally pay a $20,000 fine. Loading Ms Veeraragoo started at The Local Shack in 2015 after the company offered to sponsor her on a 457 visa and worked at the company’s Joondalup and Forrestfield locations. In May 2016, she applied for a permanent resident visa. Justice Craig Colvin heard Ms Veeraragoo’s issues came to a head on the evening of October 13, 2017, when a Local Shack manager phoned to ask how the Forrestfield restaurant was running. She told her manager she finished her shift at 3.45pm and was no longer at the store. She said the manager then questioned her and started yelling and using foul language. The court heard Ms Veeraragoo hung up in tears and her husband rang the manager back.

According to Ms Veeraragoo’s evidence, the manager said on the call: “Why the f--k do I have to talk to you? I sponsored you guys. I can cancel your visa any time I like. You should be more compliant with me.” Ms Veeraragoo told the court after the conversations she cried and barely slept because she was so upset. The next day she told a colleague she wasn’t coming into work because she was sick. Later that morning she got a medical certificate stating she was unfit for work for the next three days and sent a copy to the company's human resources manager. After receiving a message from the HR manager Ms Veeraragoo asked where she should send her resignation, the court heard. When arranging Ms Veeraragoo’s notice period the company told her she was to work her final two weeks at its Rockingham store, south of Perth.

In an email exchange, Ms Veeraragoo protested the move because the store was far from her home and she had a one-year-old daughter to care for. The Local Shack in Scarborough. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola The Local Shack’s HR manager said the store was quieter and would be an easier environment than the Forrestfield outlet. A week and a half later Ms Veeraragoo received a termination letter which claimed she used profanities while speaking with the manager, had bad-mouthed the business to other staff and refused to carry out lawful and reasonable requests from her employer. Ms Veeraragoo told the court after she was sacked, the stress of finding a new job so her family could stay in Australia, and the lack of income, left her with headaches and suicidal thoughts.

In assessing Ms Veeraragoo’s compensation, Justice Colvin said she was vulnerable because of her visa situation. “Leaving employment in adverse circumstances was likely to give rise to distress. I found that Ms Veeraragoo did suffer considerable distress,” he said. In response to questions about working conditions at The Local Shack, legal representatives said no complaint about bullying was ever received internally or raised by an employee at the Fair Work Commission or by any other regulatory body. The ‘broken’ chef In March, former executive chef Danny Mitchell was awarded $8840 through the Fair Work Commission after he was sacked from The Local Shack in September 2018.

Mr Mitchell told the commission he commonly worked 50 to 70 hours a week and on the week of the Mandurah store opening, had worked 92 hours. He said he received no extra compensation beyond the 46 hours outlined in his contract. There was a total absence of procedural fairness in that he was not notified of the reasons he was to be dismissed. Fair Work Commissioner Bruce Williams On September 11, 2018, after Mr Mitchell’s rostered shift, his manager asked if he could help install a new oven at the Forrestfield store. The commission heard he attended but had a disagreement with the manager over what was expected of him. Afterwards, Mr Mitchell realised he had been removed from The Local Shack’s WhatsApp message group, used by management and staff to communicate. Mr Mitchell told the commission he went to his doctor the following day because he was feeling “broken”.

His doctor gave him a medical certificate that stated he couldn’t work for the next week, which he sent to his Mandurah venue manager after she told him he was to work at the Forrestfield store the next day. Mr Mitchell said he received a text from his manager calling him a "real piece of work" before putting his phone on silent and blocking a manager on Facebook because he was “distressed”, missing several calls from his manager in the process. The commission heard Mr Mitchell sent the original and a second medical certificate to a Local Shack manager a week later, after finding out his pay had been withheld. In a termination email sent to Mr Mitchell, he was told he had put the company at risk by abandoning his shifts and had not told the correct management staff about his absence. Before the commission, The Local Shack argued Mr Mitchell had cut communications with them for six days and it was unreasonable for them to hold the position open.

It also argued Mr Mitchell was given reasonable directions; he did not tell his manager he had the doctor’s certificate despite talking to him after obtaining it; and that he was a disgruntled employee who planned the stress leave before going to the doctor. Commissioner Bruce Williams disagreed and said Mr Mitchell’s removal from the WhatsApp group prevented him from communicating with management in the most commonly used way. “It is readily apparent however that there was a mixture of miscommunication and failure of communications at times between all involved and this contributed to the respondent deciding to dismiss Mr Mitchell as it did,” he said. He said there was no evidence to support the business’ allegation Mr Mitchell acted dishonestly in obtaining the two medical certificates.

“There was a total absence of procedural fairness in that he was not notified of the reasons he was to be dismissed … and importantly in this case he was not given an opportunity to respond to those reasons,” he said. The business lost an appeal to the decision in the commission in June. Lawyers for The Local Shack said another appeal had been lodged with the Federal Court in August. The miscommunication In April 2018 a former Local Shack employee was awarded $8167 by the Fair Work Commission after miscommunications about staffing led to her being sacked. On December 14, 2017, Jessica McCormack told the commission she was rostered to start work at the Scarborough restaurant at 3pm.

In the morning she received a phone call from her manager informing her a bartender hadn’t shown up for work. Ms McCormack said about 10.30am she told the venue manager she couldn’t get hold of the bartender, before being told they would get another staff member to cover. The Local Shack in Scarborough. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola About an hour later Ms McCormack said she received a call from her manager asking why she wasn’t at work. In recounting the phone call to the court, Ms McCormack said she told the manager she hadn’t been made aware she needed to come to work, and she was rostered to start at 3pm. After the call, she decided to come in early, but while she was travelling to the store she received a call from the venue manager asking why she had been removed from the venue’s WhatsApp chat. She said she called the manager, who told her her services were no longer needed.

Her termination letter cited: “Serious misconduct; deliberate acts of negligence, failure to follow a reasonable and lawful direction, and a bullying claim.” The Local Shack didn’t take part in the mention or hearing. Deputy president Abbey Beaumont said there was a lack of evidence to suggest there were valid reasons for Ms McCormack’s dismissal and awarded her compensation. Lawyers for The Local Shack said no complaint of bullying or non-payment of overtime was ever received internally or raised by an employee at the Fair Work Commission, or by any other regulatory body. “The Local Shack is a large, multi-site hospitality business. To manage the large numbers of staff, it uses an electronic timesheet system, which is connected to software used to pay employees. There is no interference by management,” the lawyers said.