Iron Mountain sacks BDM for taking distie "gifts"

The Fair Work Commission has rejected an unfair dismissal claim by a former staffer of document management and storage provider Iron Mountain who accepted products from distributor Dicker Data.

In a judgment handed down last month, Fair Work Commission senior deputy president Jonathan Hamberger said Iron Mountain's Deana Hatzisevastos accepted an HP Omni tablet and a 32-inch television on separate occasions from Dicker Data.

Hatzisevastos was dismissed in September for violating Iron Mountains' code of ethics, which prohibit receiving gifts worth more than $100. Hamberger ruled that the termination was justified.

"The applicant breached the company’s gift policies not once but twice. Nor were they minor or technical breaches," said Hamberger in the judgment. "She had no reason to plead ignorance of those policies. She had received training in them. The training was well written and was designed to leave employees no doubt about their obligations."

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Dicker Data. A spokesperson for the distributor told CRN that the items were not gifts. "The company, Iron Mountain, were awarded the items based on successfully meeting the criteria of a widely-promoted sales incentive program."

Although Hatzisevastos' role included awarding a contract to Dicker Data to supply tapes, Hamberger said there was "no evidence that the gifts influenced the applicant in her business dealings with Dicker Data".

Iron Mountain did not respond to CRN. Hatzisevastos declined to speak on the phone to CRN.

Hatzisevastos was discovered to be in breach of company policy after she had the television delivered to Iron Mountain's Silverwater, NSW facilities. According to the Fair Work Commission report, she admitted she "panicked" and initially lied to Iron Mountain's HR adviser Angela Sharpe, claiming she had purchased the television from Dicker Data.

Later Hatzisevastos admitted to Sharpe that it was given to her for free and that earlier she had also received the HP Omni tablet over a lunch. Hatzisevastos considered both "literally a token of thanks" and that "all customers are entitled to the rewards".

Hatzisevastos claimed at the FWC hearing that she was guilty of nothing more than an "innocent and stupid mistake" and that transitioning from a "small, family run Australian company" in TMS – which was acquired by Iron Mountain in January 2014 – to a multi-national was a "culture shock".

UPDATE: This story has been updated with comments from Dicker Data, clarifying that the items the Fair Work Commission described as "gifts" were awarded to Iron Mountain "based on successfully meeting the criteria of a widely-promoted sales incentive program".