NRL’s massive legal win over ex-referee in unfair dismissal case

A former NRL referee has lost his fourth bid to sue rugby league’s governing body after the Full Court of the Federal Court threw out the Englishman’s appeal against an unfair dismissal finding.

Tim Alouani-Roby attempted to sue the game despite his tenure ending when his fixed-term contract ended at the conclusion of the 2020 season.

He had previously failed when he took action against the NRL at the Fair Work Commission, before he unsuccessfully appealed that decision to the full bench of the Fair Work Commission.

The Fair Work Commission found the Englishman’s employment was merely not renewed at the end of a 12-month contract that expired on November 30, 2020.

It was a decision that was upheld by the Federal Court in January, but Mr Alouani-Roby earlier this year appealed that decision before the full bench of the Federal Court.

Justices John Snaden, Anthony Meagher and Jane Needham – the three judges to hear his appeal – on Thursday wrote that he had a “legitimate expectation” that his contract was about to be renewed.

However, they said: “What Mr Alouani-Roby expected would occur at the expiry of his contract is irrelevant.”

Mr Alouani-Roby refereed in the English Super League before emigrating to Australia in 2015 to take up a role with the NRL, which sponsored his visa.

During his time with the NRL, he was employed on a series of one-year contracts, the last of which was for $132,000 per season.

The court heard that he was told in 2020 that he would not be offered a new deal for the 2021 season, and the NRL denied that he had been dismissed.

During a hearing earlier this year, the NRL’s barrister Michael Seck argued that the high performance of match officials was critical to the success of professional sporting leagues such as the NRL.

It was alleged Mr Alouani-Roby was the victim of “bullying culture”, his solicitor Michael Harmer told the court earlier this year

He alleged that the NRL had “manipulated” Mr Alouani-Roby’s performance criteria so that he was ranked at the bottom of the refereeing group.

The Federal Court was told earlier this year that in June 2020, Mr Alouani-Roby met with his bank to sign a home loan contract and told his boss he would be late for work that day.

But 35 minutes later, on a video call, he was told by then-general manager of elite officiating Bernard Sutton that his contract would not be renewed.

In late July 2020, he emailed the NRL a medical certificate saying he would be going on stress leave. He did not return to work before his contract expired, the court was told.

Mr Harmer argued that Mr Alouani-Roby’s contract was terminated at the NRL’s initiative, not at the end of a limited-term contract.

The court was told that he was one of two referees – along with veteran Gavin Badger – whose contracts were not renewed at the end of the 2020 season due to poor performance.

In 2020, Mr Alouani-Roby was involved in a refereeing howler at the NRL Nines. He was serving as the in-goal referee when St George Illawarra were incorrectly awarded a try when Cody Ramsey grounded the ball over the touchline.

The Full Bench of the Federal Court affirmed the Federal Court’s finding that the Fair Work Commission had not fallen into jurisdictional error.

The court heard that Mr Alouani-Roby had not worked as a referee since his contract with the NRL expired.