| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Auckland |
| Reference No | AA 231/02 |
| Hearing date | 5 Jun 2002 - 6 Jun 2002 (2 days) |
| Determination date | 09 August 2002 |
| Member | T Woods |
| Representation | M Urlich ; R Harrison |
| Location | Auckland |
| Parties | Chee & Ors v Laytons Linen Hire t/a Taylors Healthcare |
| Other Parties | Mafi, Malio |
| Summary | UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL - Serious misconduct - Consumed alcohol at work after receiving it as Christmas gift from workmate - Machinery not turned off at time of drinking - Immediately obeyed instruction to stop drinking - Applicants did not know union representative would be at disciplinary meeting until after it started - Opportunity to explain - Admitted to consumption of alcohol and offered no mitigating factors - Dismissed the following week - No opportunity to respond to decision to dismiss - Consuming alcohol at work amounted to serious breach of employment contract - Authority could not substitute its views for that of employer - Dismissal was response open to respondent - Lack of further opportunity to make submissions did not cause investigation to fall short of fairness and reasonableness - Dismissals justified - Laundry process workers |
| Result | Application dismissed ; Costs reserved |
| Cases Cited | Cooke v Tranz Rail Ltd (formerly NZ Rail Ltd) [1996] 1 ERNZ 610;Murphy and Routhan t/a Enzo's Pizza v van Beek [1998] 2 ERNZ 607;Shadanbaz v Bilmans Management Ltd unreported, Finnigan J, 5 July 1994, AEC 39/94;W & H Newspapers Ltd v Oram [2000] 2 ERNZ 448 ; [2001] 3 NZLR 29 |
| Number of Pages | 7 |
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