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A constructive dismissal claim has highlighted failings in an employer's approach to managing a "simmering" conflict between competitive co-workers.

The Swanfurn employee started work at a Harvey Norman franchise store in 2018. In 2022, she was escorting a customer to the sales counter when a colleague, who had earlier started an invoice with the same customer, called her a "sweeping seagull".

Swanfurn's director didn't hear the comment, but saw the customer looking "confused" and noticed "obvious tension" between the pair. After the customer left the employees argued and the director separated them.

At a subsequent meeting, the employees agreed it wasn't appropriate to have argued in front of customers, but continued to disagree about who had stolen whose customer. The director said she instructed them to avoid airing their differences on the shop floor and to take problems to her...