New jobs, a new house and a new life are what awaited the Griffin family when they left Queensland and drove more than 3,000km to their new home in Tasmania over the Christmas holidays.
But suitcases had barely been unzipped before the family were told to pack up and leave.
After just two hours into their new roles as managers of the Big 4 Strahan Holiday Retreat, Hamish and Hazel Griffin were fired.
Now, Mr Griffin, who managed a caravan park in Cloncurry in north-west Queensland prior to the move, believes the decision violated his human rights.
He urged others to "do their homework" before taking up a new job.
While helping to move a sofa from a shed at the park, Mr Griffin said he was told his weight would prevent him from being able to carry out his duties.
"I was told I couldn't do the job because I was too fat. I was told I wouldn't be able to push a lawn mower or climb a ladder," he said.
"I've been a park manager in north-west Queensland for eight years — I've been doing the job for eight years."
Mr Griffin said that, while he understood there would be a need to undertake such tasks every now and then, he was not being employed as a grounds keeper or maintenance operator.
"It was a management position," he said.
"Sure, you have urgent situations where you might be short-staffed, or you might have to go and give somebody a hand, which is what I've been doing for the last eight years on a bigger property, in harsher conditions."
What shocked Mr Griffin was that he had conducted video interviews and sent photos of himself and his family to the employers.
"They'd seen me, they knew what I looked like," he said.
Park owners told the ABC that Mr Griffin's sacking was due to a workplace health issue and there were concerns Mr Griffin would harm himself while working in the park.
They said Mr Griffin had withheld a health condition from employers.
"Why would I tell them? Carrying a few extra kilos, in my mind, is not going to inhibit me and hasn't inhibited me for the last eight years to carry out my duties as a manager of a park," Mr Griffin said.
Crushing blow
The family, who had spent one night in their new house, packed up their car and left.
"It was just such a shock: the evening before, the boss and his wife had visited us and welcomed us with a bottle of wine. That morning, my son had been playing by the stream," Mr Griffin said.
"We were basking in this paradise that was going to be our new home, and now I had to think about where we were going to sleep that night.
"This was not just a new job we'd lost. This was the loss of a new life. We had moved for a new life."
Mr Griffin said the hardest part was telling his son, Freddie.
"The look on that little boy's face, who was hunting for platypus in the stream, when I told him to get back in the car, the look on my wife's face — I wish they [the park owners] could have felt what I felt at that moment.
"He has ripped my life apart: he has ripped my heart out.
"I've lived out in Queensland's west most of my life. I've worked in Afghanistan. I've travelled the world. I've raised a family, but this has just absolutely floored me."
Employee rights
Mr Griffin is seeking legal advice to investigate whether there were any breaches of contract and, further, any breaches of discrimination acts or the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986.
NB Lawyers director Jonathan Mamaril said while there were no laws in Australia that prevented employers from sacking an employee for being overweight, there were grounds to fight discrimination based on a physical impairment or a medical condition.
"In this matter, the employers made the point that this is potentially a medical condition," Mr Mamaril said.
"The problem with that type of comment is that it's a perception, and just the mere perception is simply not good enough. You need actual medical evidence to back that up.
"For the role of a manager, it's going to be very difficult for the employer to say that a person carrying a bit of extra weight is going to cause a health and safety risk."
Warning to others
While Mr Griffin believed there was nothing he could have done to change the outcome, he urged others to be diligent and do their homework when considering new employment.
"I just don't want this to happen to anybody else," he said.
"There was nothing really that I think that I could have asked or done better.
"But in terms of advice for anybody else, all I would say is, please, just do your homework, do as much research as you can on the company and your rights."
Editor's note 19/12/2022: The ABC wishes to clarify that Mr Griffin requested and received a settlement payment of $23,464.00 from the park owners upon termination of his employment. Park owners told the ABC that Mr Griffin stated the payment was a "full and final settlement".
