Worker fired from job after taking 114 sick days in one year

An Australian ferry worker was fired from her job after taking 114 sick days in a 12-month period.

Jodie Daunis had been working at the Brisbane CityCat ferry service as a customer service operator since 2019, and had been working on Brisbane's ferries since 2008.

However, her employment was terminated by Kelsian Group in July last year after repeated absence.

According to documents from Daunis' tribunal, she took 114 sick days in a 12-month period due to an ongoing medical condition.

The company claimed that due to the condition, Daunis was unable to perform the job.

The issues began in 2024 when Daunis began suffering from deep vein thrombosis (DVT), as well as inflammation and pain.

While on the waitlist for surgery, Daunis ended up in hospital and was off work for around a week. She returned for a couple of shifts before the pain she had been suffering made working increasingly difficult.

Jodie Daunis had been working at the Brisbane CityCat ferry service as a customer service operator since 2019 (Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

In April 2025, Daunis also told the business that she had been told by a specialist and a vascular surgeon that she should stay off work for three months.

According to the tribunal documents, the medical certificate read: “[Ms Daunis] is currently safe to return to work while on anticoagulation therapy.

"... However, her functional capacity and ability to perform work duties is highly variable and her improvement cannot be accurately predicted over the next three months. I certify that Ms Daunis requires a period of three months off work from 14/05/2025 to 14/08/2025 inclusive. Her capacity to return to full duties will need to be reassessed at the end of this period.”

The Commission sided with the ferry company (Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

A few weeks later and an independent medical report that was filed in June 2025 caused some disagreement.

While Daunis and the Maritime Union of Australia claimed the report indicated that she could return to work after surgery, Kelsian said that it indicated she could not perform the job as required.

They also said that the reduced hours that Daunis would need to work would have been disruptive to the staff roster and therefore other workers.

Ultimately, the Commission sided with Kelsian.

“When all of the considerations are taken into account … the dismissal was not harsh, unjust or unreasonable and therefore not unfair,” Commissioner Simpson said.

“I accept, taking into account the nature of the working arrangements, and the impact on other staff, and cost to the respondent (Kelsian Group) in making accommodations as proposed for Ms Daunis that they are not practical or reasonable in this case and that there was no reasonable adjustment that could have been made to Ms Daunis role to accommodate her current or future incapacity given the nature of her role.”

LADbible Group has reached out to Kelsian Group for comment.