Employer ordered to pay $15,975 after employee allegedly punched colleague...

The Employment Relations Authority has ordered an employer to pay $15,975 after an employee was dismissed for allegedly punching a colleague.

The issues in the employment relationship began when one of the employees accused his colleague of stealing. The employee left something in long grass near his work site and his colleague took it without permission. The employee reported his colleague to his employer, but the employer decided not to take any further action.

A few days later the employees came across each other whilst driving their vehicles in the course of doing their job. They got into an argument over radio about who had right of way.

They both stopped at the same place and the employee asked his colleague to exit his vehicle so they could sort out the issue. The colleague rolled his window down to talk to the employee. The employee put his arm through the gap in the window and hit his colleague twice.

After this altercation the employee called his employer to let him know what had happened. The employer launched an investigation into the incident, calling both parties and typing up their recollection of the event.

At this stage, the employee was put on paid suspension and was invited to a disciplinary meeting. This meeting took place a few weeks after the incident, but the employee did not attend, stating that he did not have adequate time to prepare his evidence before the meeting.

The employee was dismissed and subsequently raised a personal grievance claim of unjustified dismissal.

It was decided that whilst a proper investigation did take place, the employer did not present all its concerns to the employee. The employee did not attend the disciplinary meeting, and there were comments made about the employee that the employee should have been able to consider and respond to.

It was decided that the decision to dismiss the employee was not made with an open mind, and that the dismissal was therefore unjustified.

The Authority ordered the employer to pay $4,725 as compensation for lost wages, and $11,250 as compensation for hurt and humiliation.

If there is confusion around the correct process to follow when dismissing an employee, it pays to seek advice from a professional with experience in the area.

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