An
employee has been dismissed following a dispute where it was alleged that he
pushed one of his managers. The police were called to the workplace but had no
recollection of ever being told someone had been pushed.
The
Employment Relations Authority upheld the employee’s personal grievance claim
for unjustified dismissal.
The
ERA held that the employer failed to act as a fair and reasonable employer
could in all of the circumstances by following an unfair dismissal process.
The
ERA found that the employer relied almost entirely on the manager’s account of
events and did not question the police officer present at the time during the
disciplinary investigation.
The
ERA found that the employer could not conclude that the employee had pushed his
manager, and noted that the employee was not given a chance to talk directly to
the employer about the incident.
The
ERA ordered the employer to pay the employee $8,000 in compensation, after
taking into account the employee’s contributory behaviour.
The
employer was also penalised an additional $6,000 for failing to keep adequate
wage and time records, of which $1,000 was awarded to the employee.
Alan Knowsley
Employment Lawyer Wellington
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