Worker compensated for unfair dismissal after being sacked over 'wanker' boss joke email A FORMER building company financial controller who was sacked after sending staff a joke email inferring his boss was a "wanker" has won an unfair dismissal case. After losing his $205,000-a-year job, Paul Cronin exposed a work culture of Choice Homes' male and female staff sending sexually-explicit, sexist and racist emails. Fair Work Commission heard some of the Gold Coast building company's 40 staff circulated hard core pornography, with one email group calling themselves "The Porn Stars." A Commission Deputy President has now awarded Mr Cronin $62,000 compensation for unfair dismissal, finding it was harsh, unjust and unreasonable for him to be sacked over a joke. Mr Cronin, who had been at Choice Homes for more than six years, was dismissed without a chance to respond on May 2 last year, the same day he sent the "joke" email to all staff. It was sent after another staffer sent a congratulatory email about Choice Homes chief executive Troy Knight buying a Lamborghini to celebrate 20 years with the family company. Mr Cronin's follow-up email said: "Re: Congratulations - I actually found his original resume too!!," the Commission heard. Attached was a document entitled Hobbies and Interests, which included the words "excessive masturbation." Fair Work Commission heard it was a mock resume taken from a website called Lamebook. Soon after Mr Knight received the email Mr Cronin was dismissed for serious misconduct for sending staff an "offensive and inappropriate" email containing explicit sexual content. Mr Knight said he was humiliated, believing Mr Cronin was calling him a "wanker" and claimed it was also sexual harassment and offensive to female staff. But Mr Cronin argued the email was a joke and the workplace culture accepted distribution of sexually explicit and sexist emails. He tendered emails sent to him by colleagues containing explicit sexual content, sexual innuendo and racist, sexist and anti-religious jokes. Commission Deputy President Ingrid Asbury said there was evidence The Porn Stars existed when Mr Cronin began work there, with the company's IT manager updating secret membership. "There was a workplace culture of distributing ...emails that tick every box in the spectrum of highly offensive material including hard core pornography, sexism and racism, " she said. Mr Knight said he was unaware staff regularly sent each other sexist emails. Ms Asbury said it was "ludicrous" to suggest staff who had sent hard core porn and females who circulated highly offensive material were offended by the term "masturbation." She reduced Mr Cronin's compensation by 20 per cent for his poor judgment, finding "some force" in the submission that Mr Cronin's email constituted calling Mr Knight a "wanker."