St John justified to sack 27-year veteran ambo for abusive Facebook post: ERA

Unlike former Wallaby star Israel Folau, St John paramedic Ian Black couldn't rely on religious freedom as a defence for his Facebook post. Photo / Bevan Conley

A veteran St John paramedic has been sacked for taking to Facebook to demand a colleague "be shot with a ball of their own s***".

In a case with shades of former Wallaby superstar Israel Folau's high-profile dispute with Rugby Australia, Blenheim-based ambo Ian Black had already found himself on a final warning before making his 2017 Facebook post.

He had - at the time - spent 27 years with The Priory in New Zealand of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (St John).

But Black was on notice that his behaviour was not in keeping with St John's desire to begin promoting five core values.

Black's frustration then boiled over in July 2017 while reading a newspaper article about a new motorised stretcher posted to the St John Blenheim Facebook page.

"Who ever put that information into the paper needs to be shot with a ball of their own s***," Black commented below the link.

"We still gonna have to get patients off the floor, couch, bed, car, truck or any of the millions of situations we find them and then get them on to the stretcher ... so it will be far from barely lifting a finger."

The post left Black in hot water and led St John to eventually fire him.

While Folau has recently claimed his right to religious freedom to defend social media posts condemning homosexuals and others to eternal hell, Black was found to have no similar avenues to turn to.

His ERA claim for unfair dismissal argued his sacking was "incredibly harsh" given the nature of the post and his 27 years' service with St John.

He also argued the post was motivated by a desire to stand up for St John workers against a misinformed article and ongoing frustrations with how the organisation operated.

But St John argued Black was already on a final warning for his aggressive and intimidating behaviour and that his post clearly violated its social media policy.

It also argued it had undertaken a fair investigation into the post and given Black the chance to reply.

The ERA backed St John, saying it acted as any reasonable employer might by exercising its justified right to sack Black on grounds of serious misconduct.

"St John had been working on its culture and how its workers interacted with each other, its patients and stakeholders, culminating in it establishing five core values," the ERA decision stated.

"Mr Black's behaviour was contrary to many of these values, values that he was aware of and was meant to implement on a daily basis."