Sacked Over a Private WhatsApp Chat: The Snowy Hydro 2.0 Decision Explained

A project engineer employed by Endacom Pty Ltd on the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project had worked there for about three and a half years. On 29 October 2025, while he was not at work, he posted a run of messages in a WhatsApp group of nine Endacom engineers. The messages were, in the Commission's words, "extremely insulting" about his direct manager, and other messages that day encouraged colleagues to resign. Later the same day he handed in his own resignation with eight weeks' notice, to finish on 24 December 2025.

Management found out because a superintendent looked at the chat on a colleague's computer while that colleague was away from the desk, photographed the screen and sent it up the line. Days later, before the notice period ran out, Endacom summarily dismissed him for serious misconduct. No warning, no chance to explain, no chance to apologise.

The engineer, Tyler Monaghan, claimed unfair dismissal. On 15 September 2026 Commissioner Crawford found the dismissal harsh, unjust and unreasonable and ordered compensation of a little over $15,000 (AFR; see also HRD and ACS Information Age). Endacom had already lost a preliminary argument in the same dispute in December 2025, when the Commission rejected its claim that the role was not covered by an award: our summary of that ruling.

The engineer argued the messages were private and sent outside work. The Commissioner disagreed. Although he was not at work, some recipients were, every member of the group was an Endacom employee, and the chat was used to share work as well as personal information. That made the conduct "sufficiently connected to his employment", and the messages breached his employment contract. On that basis Endacom had a valid reason to dismiss him.

That is the settled position in Australia. Out-of-hours conduct can justify dismissal where it has a real connection to the job, damages the employment relationship or the employer's interests, or is incompatible with the employee's duties. A group chat made up of colleagues, discussing work, sits inside that line even if the app is on your own phone and the chat is "private".

A valid reason is only the first question the Commission asks. The Fair Work Act also requires it to weigh whether the employee was told the reason, given a chance to respond, and treated fairly in the process. Endacom did none of that: it moved straight from a photographed screen to summary dismissal. The Commissioner also gave weight to how the messages were obtained and to the fact that the engineer had already resigned and was working out his notice.

The result is a familiar one. In the same fortnight the Commission decided Cominelli v Nitschke Industries, where a small Wheatbelt freight business had two valid reasons to sack its depot manager and still lost because it gave no warning and no chance to respond. Substance without process loses.

• "Private" is not a defence when the group is your workmates and the chat carries work content. Assume anything you write about your manager or employer can reach them.
• Encouraging colleagues to quit is treated as conduct against the employer's interests, separate from the insults.
• How the employer found out can matter to the outcome, but it does not make the conduct disappear. Here it helped the employee on remedy; it did not remove the valid reason.
• Resigning does not end your rights. A dismissal during a notice period is still a dismissal, and an unfair dismissal claim is still open.

Both decisions this month say the same thing. Before dismissing for misconduct, put the allegation to the employee in plain terms, give them a genuine chance to respond, consider that response, and record the steps. For a small business the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code sets the minimum path; for everyone else the Commission looks for the same fairness. Summary dismissal on the spot, over a screenshot, is the pattern that keeps losing.

You have 21 days from the dismissal taking effect to lodge an unfair dismissal application. Use the unfair dismissal checker to confirm you are eligible, read our guide to making a claim, and if the matter is serious, get advice from an employment lawyer or community legal centre early. If you used an AI tool to prepare any part of your application, note the Commission's new disclosure rules from 20 October 2026, covered in this post.