Samsung distie EOS Australia in court over sacking

Former EOS Australia business development manager Malcolm Rosewarne has taken the company to court, accusing the Samsung distributor of unfairly terminating his position.

Among Rosewarne's allegations is the claim that national sales and operations manager Matthew Harvey was taking his clients after they were entered into the distie's CRM system.

Rosewarne also told the court he felt "isolated and excluded" in the office because employees tended to speak in Korean rather than English. Rosewarne expressed concerns about being "harassed and micromanaged" by both Harvey and EOS' managing director, Patrick Young Ik Cha.

Rosewarne, who had worked for EOS Australia for more than four years, claimed to have made a string of verbal complaints in the weeks and months leading up to 24 March 2016, when he told his employer he was taking sick leave, feeling "stressed and unwell".

His employment was terminated that day.

Rosewarne believes the company breached section 340 of the Fair Work Act 2009, which states that an employer must not dismiss an employee for taking advantage of its rights, in this case making verbal complaints. He also believes EOS breached section 352 of the Fair Work Act 2009, which states an employee cannot be dismissed when temporarily absent from work because of illness.

EOS Australia countered that Rosewarne's employment was terminated due to "unsatisfactory" conduct.

The distributor accused Rosewarne of falsifying time keeping and fabricating client meetings, as well as failing to provide sufficient information regarding expenses claims, which led the company to consider they may have been "false or fraudulent".

Samsung's distributor also defined his behaviour as "insubordinate and disrespectful" in the termination letter and claimed Rosewarne had refused to use the CRM. EOS added that Harvey had no reason to take clients from the sales team because his remuneration was based on total national figures, not individual sales.

EOS also stated that it had asked all employees to speak in English in the Victoria office earlier this year, and managing director Cha said he felt sorry for Rosewarne as he was the only non-Korean in the office.

EOS Australia claimed the decision of terminating Rosewarn's employment was solely made on professional grounds and that the managing director had not been aware of Rosewarne's previous complaints or his request for personal leave.