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An employer has been fined for threatening an employee with discipline after she made a workplace complaint, with the Federal Circuit Court chastising its HR team for facilitating the adverse action.

According to an agreed statement of facts, the Woolworths employee asked the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) to help her address concerns about a poorly lit carpark at the Lilydale store in September 2020.

The RAFFWU subsequently emailed Woolworths a dispute notification on the employee's behalf, as provided for under its enterprise agreement, and attached a petition with signatures, which had been collected at its request.

That same day, the employee received a phone call from the department manager, who interrogated her about the petition and asked why she hadn't approached him directly. He then told her she would move from her usual work area to the grocery section, which she understood to be a change in her role...