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It was unfair to dismiss an employee for engaging in a consensual "interaction" on a work retreat, the Fair Work Commission has found in ordering his reinstatement and six months' backpay.

In November 2017, the Australian National University associate professor coordinated a mathematics academic retreat at the Kioloa campus for both staff and students.

One night during the retreat, the employee went to the beach with a female student, took off his clothes and went into the water. The student joined him and, unsolicited, wrapped her legs around him and kissed him, which he reciprocated. They returned to the beach and continued to kiss before going back to their separate accommodation.

In the days that followed, the employee told the student their interaction had not been "a good idea"; he informed his wife of what had occurred and told the student his marital relationship was more important. When the student expressed an interest in an ongoing relationship with him, he declined...