14-05-2025
RACQ patrol driver called out to fix a flat tyre was repeatedly punched in the face. But he was the one sacked
The Fair Work Commission has ruled in favour of a RACQ for firing an employee who was punched up to eight times in the face by a tow truck driver.
It handed down its verdict this week after the former recovery truck driver, who previously worked as a skills and tactics instructor with Queensland Police - claimed he was unfairly dismissed.
The commission heard the recovery truck driver responded to an incident last October that was initially described as a flat tyre.
However, the RACQ worker realised quickly upon arrival that the tyre had been forced into the wheel arch.
While he marked out a work area with traffic cones, two truck drivers approached and claimed the car owner clearly had an accident and that it was off-limits for RACQ.
RACQ is only authorised to tow vehicles that have broken down, not vehicles involved in accidents.
Their interaction was captured on two cameras inside the RACQ worker's vehicle.
One of the tow truck drivers attempted to talk with the worker, who in turn called his company's dispatch.
The worker told the dispatch operator the driver had suffered a severed ball joint and made passive aggressive remarks within earshot of the truck driver.
Those included asking the operator to call police because the tow truck driver was 'in my work site and he won't get out of here'.
The tow truck driver responded by saying: 'I have every right to be here mate.'
Later in the conversation, the RACQ worker was heard saying 'he's being non-compliant so yeah, he's obstructing' to which the truck driver said, 'Obstructing, yeah right'.
The situation escalated after the worker was heard saying 'don't touch the car'.
The truck driver was heard responding '… you put your hand on me and we will walk to the corner right now' and 'Get your [expletive] hands off me mate'.
Footage showed at that moment, the tow driver had bent down to inspect the busted wheel and the RACQ worker pushed him backwards with two hands.
The men then moved off the road and onto a footpath, where the worker swept the tow truck driver's legs from underneath him.
He dragged the worker with him as he fell and rolled on top of him before punching the RACQ worker 'in the face seven or eight times'.
Finally the second tow truck driver was able to intervene and end the scuffle.
'Following the physical altercation, the men continued their discussions and ultimately the [worker] disconnected the RACQ vehicle and left the scene for the tow truck driver to recover the vehicle,' Fair Work Commission documents stated.
The worker later told a dispatch operator that the owner of the damaged car only 'admitted' it'd been in an accident after he'd arrived at the scene.
A representative from RACQ claimed the worker had gone against his training and escalated tensions with the truck driver.
'One would question what exactly he expected would happen when he pushed the tow truck driver. It's not known as a shrinking violet industry,' they said.
Fair Work Deputy President Lake agreed and added it was unprofessional for the worker to behave in such a way while representing his company.
'The RACQ member was standing a few metres away from the [worker] during his discussion with the tow truck driver,' he said.
'Instead of confirming with the RACQ member whether the vehicle was involved in an accident and stepping away from the situation, in accordance with his training, [he] took it upon himself to place himself between the tow truck driver and the vehicle.
'It was perfectly open to [him] to explain to the tow truck driver, using his words, that the vehicle may have a broken ball joint and that touching the vehicle could be dangerous.
'Instead, [he] simply issued 'directions' to the tow truck driver to move away and then pushed him.'
Deputy President Lake concluded the worker had violated RACQ's policies during the incident and was fairly sacked.
'Furthermore, causing the tow truck driver to fall backwards onto the concrete could have seriously injured him,' he said.
'This was done in front of a client whilst wearing [RACQ's] uniform, next to [RACQ's] recovery truck, in full view of the passing public.'
The deputy president dismissed the worker's unfair dismissal application.
