A truck driver who lost his job after a physical altercation with a supervisor has been awarded nearly $10,000.
According to The New Zealand Herald, the Employment Relations Authority says that Graham Milligan was employed by Broadway General Carriers, who supplied long-haul drivers to Freight Lines Limited.
The ERA finding reports that in June 2011 Milligan became upset with a Freight Lines operations supervisor.
An argument in front of a customer quickly escalated, and the supervisor claims he was grabbed by the throat and pinned against the corner of a building.
Milligan claimed he grabbed the supervisor by the scruff of his shirt.
Milligan was asked to attend a meeting with the Freight Lines chief executive later that morning where he was told to leave the premises and not to return until further notice says the ERA.
The following day Milligan phoned Broadways managing director Keith Church.
Church died last year so his daughter Jodie Cole gave evidence on his behalf at the ERA investigation meeting.
Milligan says Church advised him that Freight Lines had dismissed him from employment but told him Broadway would not be dismissing him.
However the ERA says that Broadway did not offer Milligan further work and he was not paid after that date.
Milligan says he made several phone calls to Church, in the belief that he had been dismissed and asked for a letter to prove it. The ERA says no confirmation of dismissal was provided.
Milligan’s solicitor then sent a letter to Church raising a personal grievance, asking for his employment agreement, dismissal correspondence, and a copy of final pay calculations including holiday pay entitlements.
Church resounded a month later and continued to maintain that Broadway had not terminated Milligan’s employment, despite not having offered him further work says the ERA.
The ERA determined that Milligan was dismissed, and considered whether it was justified.
The Counsel for Broadway, Marisa Brugeyroux says a fair and reasonable employer could have found the altercation with the supervisor amounted to serious misconduct.
But ERA member Helen Doyle says Milligan was denied fair process, including an opportunity to explain why the incident occurred and why he should not have been dismissed.
Broadway was ordered to pay Milligan $4000 in compensation, for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings, and $5821 in holiday pay.
