Andrea Castle was an employee with Sage Direct Marketing Pty Ltd. She was employed under an Enterprise Agreement.
One evening she was dining with friends at one of her friend's house. The diners were sitting out on the balcony enjoying the view and having coffee and drinks after the meal. Andrea noticed the friend's dog acting strangely and looked around to see what the dog was concerned about. She saw an arm reaching through the front door and grab a bag off the table at the front door. Andrea pursued the person together with all the others. However the thief escaped. After making a statement to the police Andrea went home.
The next day Andrea sent an email to all staff at Sage. She outlined the facts of what occurred. In doing so she described "a coloured arm" poking through the door grabbing the handbag. The reason Andrea sent the email was to alert people to the risk of leaving valuables near unlocked doors. The email had no connection with her duties at Sage.
Sage Marketing Direct had an internal email policy (IEP) which read as follows.