Nirmal Singh was dismissed by AeroCare and he faced the Fair Work Commission to argue unfair dismissal and seek $7000 in lost wages.
At the Commission hearing it was told that Mr Singh had shared a post from Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia about the shooting of police account Curtis Cheng by Islamic youth Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar in Sydney with the caption "WE All Support ISIS".
During his cross-examination by a solicitor for Aerocare, Mr Singh said he made the posts on Facebook under a different name, and believed he was interacting with a “secret group”.
But there were two employees at Aerocare who were Facebook friends with Mr Singh, and they independently raised concerns about the posts with a manager.
The Australian Federal Police, the “client airline” of Aerocare and Perth Airport were also informed about the posts, and the airline requested that Mr Singh should no longer be allowed to work around its planes.
After three meetings held over four days last October, Aerocare informed Mr Singh it was terminating his employment for breach of their social media policy, and also demanded that he return his airside security pass to Perth Airport for cancellation.
At the Fair Work Commission hearing, Mr Singh argued the posts were “sarcastic” in nature and he did not support Islamic State.
Source: News Corp Australia
He also mentioned that he deleted his posts and his Facebook “alias” profile after meeting with his manager.
“There were concerns I understood and I addressed those concerns by offering to delete the posts and the profile but how they breached the social media policy, I don’t understand,” Mr Singh told the Brisbane hearing, from a video link in Perth.
Mr Hughes asked if Mr Singh was aware Australia was on high alert for a terrorist attack which was currently rated “probable”.
“Absolutely and I support that,” answered Mr Singh.
“In relation to ISIS itself you accept that it’s currently listed as a terrorist organisation on the Australian National Security Register?” asked Mr Hughes a partner at Piper Alderman.
“Absolutely and I’m in support of that,” he responded.
Mr Singh was unable to provide any evidence to support his claim discrimination was a factor in his dismissal and refused to say what company had employed him in a similar ground-handling role less than two months after his dismissal by Aerocare.
Commissioner Jennifer Hunt also excused him from answering a question about whether he disclosed the nature of his dismissal to his new employer.
But he confirmed his airside access had been reinstated by Perth Airport, which could see him working again with the airline that had requested he not be used to handle their freight.
The hearing was adjourned after 9.30pm last night after a marathon sitting.
Commissioner Hunt wanted to review transcripts and receive some further written submissions before making her decision in writing.
Mr Singh maintains he did nothing wrong by posting “We All Support ISIS” on Facebook and said he was in fact a member of a secret group against religious extremism.
