Restrictions OK
Jurisdiction Employment Relations Authority - Auckland
Reference No AA 181/10
Hearing date 10 Mar 2010
Determination date 20 April 2010
Member D King
Representation D Flaws ; J Rooney
Location Auckland
Parties Spice v Firth Industries, a division of Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure Ltd
Summary UNJUSTIFIED DISADVANTAGE - UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL – Serious misconduct – Applicant claimed unjustifiably dismissed – Claimed disadvantaged as respondent took no actions in regards to applicant’s bullying complaints – Applicant claimed subjected to bullying by employee (“W”) over course of employment – Applicant made several complaints to respondent – First altercation occurred between applicant and W when W wrote “narc” on applicant’s locker – Respondent held disciplinary meetings in response to altercation – W received written warning – Applicant received verbal warning – Applicant discovered W wrote “narc” on customer docket - Second altercation occurred – Applicant physically assaulted W – Applicant did not raise W’s conduct to respondent prior to altercation – Disciplinary meeting held – Respondent reached provisional conclusion dismissal appropriate – Applicant and W proposed to remain on good behaviour bond for two years as alternative to dismissal – Respondent rejected alternative and dismissed both parties for following reasons – First, incident serious and involved physical violence – Second, to ensure other employees not exposed to abusive behaviour – Third, both parties involved in similar incident previously – Authority found applicant not bullied throughout course of employment – Found respondent responded to applicant’s complaints appropriately – Found even if applicant bullied, no justification for physical altercation that occurred – Found dismissal justified – Found no disadvantage – Driver
Result Application dismissed ; Costs reserved
Main Category Personal Grievance
Number of Pages 6
PDF File Link: aa 181_10.pdf [pdf 24 KB]