A truck driver has been dismissed from his job after a refrigerated trailer carrying nearly $74,000 worth of ice cream was set to the wrong temperature, leading to the entire load defrosting and costing his employer over $100,000. The driver, Jeremiah Manly, lost his bid to reclaim his position after the Fair Work Commission found he missed multiple opportunities to correct the error.
Manly was employed by ERH Refrigerated Transport and had completed approximately 600 trips for the company since 2022. The incident occurred during a trip in December 2025, when a trailer destined for Sydney was loaded in Truganina, Victoria. The load sheet specified the trailer should be set to minus 22 degrees Celsius. However, the commission found that the trailer's temperature was maintained at minus 1 degree Celsius for the entire duration of Manly's trip.
By the time the night manager at ERH Refrigerated Transport detected and remotely corrected the temperature setting, the ice cream had already spoiled. Commissioner Damian Sloan noted that the entire load had to be written off and disposed of, with disposal costs adding an additional $30,000 to the employer's bill.
Manly contended that he set the trailer to the correct temperature and could not explain the subsequent rise. He also argued that the cold storage facility had a policy requiring trailers to be pre-cooled to at least minus 12 degrees Celsius before loading. Furthermore, he noted that another driver responsible for a portion of the transport was also dismissed.
While Commissioner Sloan acknowledged Manly's claim about the cold storage facility's policy, he found it did not excuse Manly's conduct. The commissioner determined that Manly had six separate opportunities to identify and rectify the temperature issue before the load was lost. Despite acknowledging Manly's error as a "one-off" incident with an otherwise stable employment record, Sloan stated that the consequences were foreseeable.
Professor Kerry Brown, an expert in employment and industry, described the case as an example of the "grey-area" disputes that frequently come before the Fair Work Commission, distinguishing it from cases involving clear misconduct like theft or fraud.
"Employees do have responsibilities to be trained for the job, to be able to undertake the job but it's in a grey area under what conditions they are responsible for," Professor Brown stated, emphasizing the driver's responsibility to monitor the load. She also highlighted common workplace mistakes that can lead to dismissal, including tardiness, resume inaccuracies, and unsafe use of company vehicles, noting that employers increasingly hold employees accountable for actions within the broader work context.
Manly and ERH Refrigerated Transport have not responded to requests for comment regarding the incident.