Woman fired from job after taking staggering 114 sick days in 12 months

A tribunal ruled in favor of a company after they fired an employee for taking more than 100 sick days in year.

When you have a cold or other mild issue, occasionally you still go into work and hope you can shake it off.

Sure, it's not always the best idea, but we aren’t all afforded the luxury of multiple sick days without causing issues at work.

However, there are some conditions where being able to work through the pain is just not possible, something that seemed to be the case for Australian woman Jodie Daunis.

The long-serving Brisbane CityCat staffer was fired from her job after taking over 100 sick days in 12 months as a result of serious health issues.

Daunis spent several years working as a customer service operator on Brisbane’s ferries and was fired in July last year by transport giant Kelsian Group.

Jodie Daunis argued against being fired following her health-related time off work(News.com.au)

The company concluded that Daunis’ ongoing medical conditions meant she could no longer reliably perform the job on the river and a work tribunal has now backed the company on this ruling.

Daunis’ health issues began to get worse around April 2024 when she developed deep vein thrombosis and began suffering recurrent blood clots, which resulted in inflammation and persistent pain.

While doctors did refer her to surgery in November that year, she was ultimately put on the public waitlist after her insurance provider refused to cover it.

Daunis was hospitalized in April 2025 with DVT and spent about a week away from work.

She attempted to come back to work, but only managed two shifts before the pain made performing her job too difficult, the Fair Work Commission was told.

Daunis would then tell her company that both a vascular surgeon and a blood specialist advised that she be off work for the next three months.

Jodie Daunis worked as a customer service operator on Brisbane’s CityCat ferries (Getty Stock Image)

In June she underwent an independent medical examination however the overall meaning of the report resulted in a disagreement between Daunis and her employer.

Daunis and the Maritime Union of Australia argued the assessment indicated she could return to work after her planned surgery however her company interpreted the report differently, saying it showed she was now unable to perform the essential duties of her job.

After challenging the decision to fire her, the Fair Work Commission sided with the company.

Commissioner Chris Simpson ruled that the June medical report 'fell well short' of proving Daunis would be able to return to her full duties any time soon.

He said: “I do not accept that the (independent medical examination) report conclusively determined that Ms Daunis could fulfil the inherent requirements of her role in the future. I am satisfied that the evidence does not support such a conclusion.”