Restrictions OK
Jurisdiction Employment Relations Authority - Auckland
Reference No AA 127/05
Hearing date 17 Feb 2005 - 18 Feb 2005 (2 days)
Determination date 12 April 2005
Member A Dumbleton
Representation R Parmenter ; K Thompson
Location Auckland
Parties Craigie v Air New Zealand Ltd
Summary UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL – Summary dismissal – Serious misconduct - Three incidents relied upon for summary dismissal - Criminal charges in 1996 - Conviction for assault in 2001 - Convictions under Civil Aviation Act 1990 in relation to operation of home-built aircraft in 2001 - Actions outside work hours – Respondent alleged the three incidents constituted serious misconduct collectively and individually – Not open to fair and reasonable employer to dismiss for first incident – At most justified warning – Additionally, was disparity of treatment compared to another staff incident – Dismissal for third incident alone would have been unjustified due to disparity of treatment - Second incident was serious misconduct and alone (or with third incident) justified dismissal – Respondent justified in having concerns about reputation and in taking that matter into account in deciding to dismiss applicant – Reasonable to regard conduct as showing applicant had lost attributes essential for job - Alleged applicant misled respondent’s investigation – Conclusion reasonably open to respondent – Procedurally fair – Dismissal justified - Pilot
Result Application dismissed ; Costs reserved
Statutes Civil Aviation Act 1990
Cases Cited Air New Zealand Ltd v Samu [1994] 1 ERNZ 93;North Island Wholesale Groceries Ltd v Hewin [1982] 2 NZLR 176;Smith v Christchurch Press Company Limited [2000] ERNZ 624 ; [2001] 1 NZLR 407;W & H Newspapers Ltd v Oram [2000] 2 ERNZ 448 ; [2001] 3 NZLR 29
Number of Pages 12
PDF File Link: aa 127_05.pdf [pdf 78 KB]