Source : Perth Now news
A FIFO mine worker who was sacked after allegedly calling a colleague a “giga chin” and suggesting her partner was “mentally unstable” has won his job back.
Kacy Brazier had worked on the mines since 2009 and was dismissed from OS MCAP, a labour hire subsidiary of BHP, in April 2025 after he allegedly spread sexual rumours and insulted his colleagues.
According to a Fair Work Commission ruling, Mr Brazier had allegedly “spread rumours of a sexual nature and made derogatory comments about the Impacted Person’s physical appearance” at the Goonyella Riverside mine in Queensland.
He allegedly said a female colleague, known as Ms G, was “having sex with everyone at site”, “there was a video of a sexual nature involving [her] that was being shared around site” and that he made comments to the effect of Ms G having a “fat ass” and a “giga chin”.
Mr Brazier denied the allegations and claimed he had been wrongfully dismissed as a result.
In a ruling stretching to more than 140 pages, Commissioner Jennifer Hunt was heavily critical of the investigation into Mr Brazier, and said that he was “ignored” when he asked for details about his alleged comments.
She ruled that Mr Brazier never said Ms G had a “fat arse” or “giga chin” and that witness Jordan Smith was “one of the least credible witnesses I’ve heard evidence from” given “his story doesn’t ring true”.
There was also confusion in the investigation as to whether Mr Brazier allegedly said “fat arse” or “phat arse”, the commissioner telling the parties phat meant “highly attractive or gratifying, excellent.”
“I find that Mr Brazier did not know what the term ‘giga chin’ is before it was put to him in writing as an accusation,” the ruling said.
“I find that Mr Smith coined that phrase in this matter. I find that it is likely a term that he has come across as an older Generation Z. He agreed with me when I questioned him that he didn’t need to google the term in the way older people, like I had to.”
Mr Brazier had said he had been working with Ms G for more than two years and denied having a tense working relationship with her, but referenced an incident with her partner when questioned by an independent investigator. Mr Brazier had raised a complaint about his conduct.
He said: “No … It’s always been fine and that’s what I mean. Like, if I’ve been saying all these things that would have come out a lot quicker than straight after when we put the statements in on a boyfriend, it’s all ridiculous.”
During the hearing, the commissioner said it was “incredulous” OS MCAP had not kept a copy of the CCTV footage of an incident involving Mr Brazier and the partner.
In regards to that confrontation, Commissioner Hunt said she had “no issue with Mr Brazier, in the circumstances, telling the partner that he was unhinged and acting unstable”.
The confrontation occurred on September 6, 2024, at a bus stop in the Eureka Camp when, according to Mr Brazier, the partner insisted that he “go for a walk and have a chat in private”.
“I was clear in my response telling (the partner) multiple times that I did not wish to engage, choosing instead to remain seated and avoided escalating the situation,” he said.
“I did everything I could to present as non-threatening because I feared for my safety.”
While Mr Brazier did not deny calling the partner “unhinged” or “mentally unstable”, he said he was the one being threatened.
The commissioner said: “Mr Brazier was seated while a large, agitated, physically intimidating man with a purported history of threatening behaviour was standing over him. I can’t imagine a female employee being put in Mr Brazier’s position and being dismissed if she had said to him something to the effect of, “Get away from me, you’re mentally unstable!”
“I find that Mr Brazier ought not to have been dismissed, nor disciplined at all for his defence of himself at the bus stop from the thuggish (the partner).”
