Ex-supermarket employee says he was fired for being told to cover his butt crack. Then the commission found the real crack

A former Woolworths employee has been accused of wasting Australia’s Fair Work Commission’s time after filing a compensation claim because he felt upset about being told to cover his backside. According to The Guardian, the Fair Work Commission deputy president, Alan Colman, published the decision on the Victorian man’s application. 

Per the article, the man had alleged that he was dismissed in breach of his workplace rights and was seeking compensation for the incident. However, Colman ultimately rejected the claim, primarily because the dismissal he complained about reportedly never actually happened. He noted that this filing was the man’s fifth application in just two years, and that Wookworths stated he was never fired. 

Colman did not mince words regarding the nature of the case. “Anyone wanting insight into the phenomenon of unmeritorious claims in the Fair Work Commission may wish to consider the case of [the complainant], whose application … I dismissed ex tempore earlier today,” he reportedly noted.

The complainant’s claim is strange for multiple reasons

Colman paraphrased the complainant, who said that during a casual shift at the supermarket, he was approached by a co-worker who pointed out that “the cleft of his bottom was protruding from his trousers.” He further alleged that the co-worker suggested, “in rude terms, that he cover up.” 

As per reports, the employee was referring to the exposure of a bum crack, also known as “builder’s bum” or “plumber’s crack,”  which they said is an unfortunate but frequent reality for anyone in a role that requires constant bending or physical movement. Colman noted that the complainant “was upset. His feelings were hurt.” 

Colman then noted, “He lodged an application alleging that he had been dismissed in breach of his workplace rights under Part 3-1 of the act.” He added, “He wanted compensation.”

If this situation had occurred in the United States, the legal landscape would be equally demanding for both parties, per Hyring. In most U.S. states, which operate under at-will employment, an employer can generally terminate someone for almost any reason, provided it isn’t illegal. 

Illegal reasons include discrimination based on protected characteristics or retaliation for engaging in protected activities, such as reporting safety violations. While the average wrongful termination settlement in the U.S. ranges from $40,000 to $100,000, and jury verdicts can sometimes climb into the millions, these cases require proof of a specific breach of law, contract, or public policy. 

Here is where it gets interesting. The Guardian reported that Woolworths countered the claim by noting that the man continued to work shifts after lodging his initial application and later simply stopped turning up. “[The complainant] was not dismissed,” Colman stated. “He had no standing to make the application. This case had nothing to do with dismissal.” 

“It was evidently a speculative claim made in pursuit of a monetary settlement that would spare Woolworths the nuisance of defending it.” Colman reportedly couldn’t state this argument to the complainant because the man ignored a direction to attend a telephone hearing.

The broader issue here is the strain on the legal system. “Unmeritorious claimants have little to lose,” Colman said. “This is unfair to respondents who have no case to answer. It is unfair to applicants with cases of substance waiting their turn to be heard … Very often there are no compensable costs, only wasted time.” Lodgements have surged from 29,631 in 2020-21 to 44,075 in 2024-25, creating a massive backlog for the Commission.

Interestingly, the president of the Fair Work Commission, Justice Adam Hatcher, has suggested that the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT is a major driver behind this surge. Per the outlet, he noted that it’s become easy to spot AI-generated language in these filings. 

There have been a few potential cases for wrongful termination that have been explored on social media and the news in the past year. Last year, Kylee took to TikTok to share that she got fired after a colleague twice her age hit on her. This year, a St Louis Starbucks fired two employees after they fought off robbers.