An employee working as a Loader Operator
has been dismissed after his colleagues reported seeing the employee having a
seizure while operating heavy machinery.
The Employment Relations Authority
upheld the employee’s personal grievance claim for unjustified dismissal.
The ERA held that the employer breached
its duty of good faith to the employee by denying the employee access to
information surrounding his termination. The employee’s doctor was refused access
to the employee’s colleagues who reported the incident, and was thus unable to
complete an informed assessment of the employee’s health. Accordingly, the
doctor could not certify the employee as being fit to return to work.
The ERA ordered the employer to pay the
employee four months lost wages and a $5,000 penalty plus $18,000 compensation for
hurt and humiliation.
Alan Knowsley
Employment Lawyer Wellington
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