Sam Masters

Associate Director

Sam Masters

Contact Sam

Call Sam

0400 889 956

Sam has particular expertise in responding to and resolving claims arising from employment and industrial disputes, minimising risks associated with termination of employment and assessing and resolving workplace conflict.

Sam is an experienced industrial advocate and regularly appears in the Fair Work Commission, Federal Court and state tribunals. Sam’s experience includes recently successfully:

  • Defending Unfair Dismissal Claims relating to safety breaches including a drug and alcohol policy breach where the Fair Work Commission carefully examined drug testing procedures and found the employee had breached the zero-tolerance policy by returning a positive reading for cannabis and upheld the dismissal

  • Defending an Anti-Discrimination Claim where the tribunal rejected a union official’s claim he was discriminated against because of his psychological condition and industrial activity, finding the dismissal followed a demand from the employee for assurances he wouldn’t be sacked for outstanding disciplinary matters

  • Obtaining orders for a University to stop unprotected industrial action threatened by a union based on successfully arguing technical defects in the notices of intention to take protected action

  • Obtaining orders for a mine owner/operator preventing an enterprise agreement from transferring in a transfer of business situation insourcing arrangement

  • Defending a Fair Work Commission General Protections arbitration involving a dismissal before the Full Bench

Sam is also an experienced investigator and regularly carries out workplace assessments in response to workplace complaints and managing fitness for work (including employees with mental health concerns) with a view to guiding clients to take early, appropriate response action to deal with issues in the workplace instead of getting caught up in formal investigations. Sam also conducts investigations for genuine misconduct matters, including for a state service which is highly regulated, providing compliant reports.

Sign up for our 'Tips & Trends' Articles

You will get short, relevant articles on topical areas with actionable steps and real commentary

We care about the protection of your data. Read our Privacy Policy.