| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Auckland |
| Reference No | AA 248/09 |
| Hearing date | 1 Apr 2009 - 30 Apr 2009 (2 days) |
| Determination date | 29 July 2009 |
| Member | V Campbell |
| Representation | S Scott ; A Russell |
| Location | Hamilton |
| Parties | Dodanis v Waikato District Health Board |
| Summary | UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL – Serious misconduct – Applicant claimed dismissal was unjustified as based on past misconduct – Applicant began writing expletives on contractor’s bin lids – Respondent instructed him to desist from doing so and he complied – Applicant involved in safety incident at work – Telephoned contractor to inform of incident – Applicant received no response – Applicant wrote letter to contractor to express feelings about incident – Allegation from contractor of more offensive graffiti on bin lids - Respondent held disciplinary meeting to discuss nature of letter and graffiti - Applicant acknowledged that language, tone and manner of letter were abusive – Applicant did not deny he wrote on bin lids but said was done 8-10 months earlier – Applicant dismissed for serious misconduct for letter written to contractor and for writing on bin lids owned by contractor – Authority found content of letter offensive and abusive – Authority rejected applicant’s explanation that graffiti on bin lids occurred 8-10 months earlier as ink appeared fresh and corresponded with letter written to contractor – Found applicant’s conduct in writing letter and action of writing on bin lids after being expressly instructed not to do so was conduct fair and reasonable employer would consider destructive of basic trust and confidence necessary in employment relationship – Applicant alleged employer wrongly took into account entire work history in dismissing him – Authority found employer required to take work history into account in making decision – Dismissal justified - Storeman |
| Result | Application dismissed ; Costs reserved |
| Main Category | Personal Grievance |
| Statutes | ERA s103A |
| Cases Cited | Air New Zealand v Hudson [2006] ERNZ 415;Fuiava v Air New Zealand [2006] ERNZ 806;Northern Distribution Union v BP Oil NZ Ltd [1992] 3 ERNZ 483;Toll New Zealand Consolidated Ltd v Rowe [2007] ERNZ 840;X v Auckland District Health Board [2007] ERNZ 66 |
| Number of Pages | 8 |
| PDF File Link: | aa 248_09.pdf [pdf 27 KB] |