Taking of $1 blank DVD costs employer 3 months salary and $3,000 compensation...

An employee has succeeded in his unjustified dismissal claim in the Employment Court.  He had lost his claim in the Employment Relations Authority but won his appeal.

He had taken home a $1 blank DVD and was dismissed for dishonesty. 

The Court held that taking the DVD was serious misconduct but at the lower end, and a reasonable employer would not have dismissed the long-standing employee.  It awarded three months lost wages and $3,000 compensation. 

Normally compensation would be $10,000-12,000 in such a case but the employee’s actions had caused the dismissal so his compensation was reduced.

Note that this dismissal took place under the old wording of “would an employer have dismissed”.  Under the new wording of “could an employer have dismissed” this case would have likely resulted in the dismissal being upheld as it was right on the borderline.

The matter which swayed the Court was the excuse the employee advanced that he downloaded material onto the DVD which he thought could be used to train other employees in the future (he had carried out such training for employees in the past but there was no arrangement in place for him to do so in the future).

 

Alan Knowsley