Restrictions OK
Jurisdiction Employment Relations Authority - Wellington
Reference No WA 31/01
Determination date 13 June 2001
Member P R Stapp
Representation C Nickalls ; G Norton
Location Wellington
Parties Carre v Air New Zealand Ltd
Summary UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL - Serious misconduct - Sexual harassment - Alleged failure to follow harassment procedures - Shared accommodation with co-workers while on temporary assignment in Australia - Consumed alcohol while on insomnia medication - Sexually assaulted female co-worker - Assault reported to manager - Immediately requested to return to New Zealand to attend meeting - Warned of seriousness of situation and that dismissal a possibility - Alleged no memory of incident - Dismissed following extensive and fair investigation - Open to respondent to find serious misconduct occurred - Failed to follow harassment complaints procedure - Matter pursued under formal complaints procedure instead - Reasonable decision not to follow harassment procedure - Personal circumstances taken into account in decision to dismiss - No procedural unfairness - Airline officer/cargo clerk
Result Application dismissed ; Costs reserved
Cases Cited Airline Stewards and Hostesses of NZ IUOW v Air New Zealand Ltd [1990] 3 NZILR 584;Auckland City Council v Hennessey [1982] ACJ 699;Drummond v Coca Cola Bottlers NZ [1995] 2 ERNZ 229;Northern Distribution Union v BP Oil NZ Ltd [1992] 3 ERNZ 483;NZ (with exceptions) Food Processing etc IUOW v Unilever NZ Ltd [1990] 1 NZILR 35;Read v Air New Zealand Ltd [1991] 3 ERNZ 139
Number of Pages 6
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