An employee working as a Loader Operator has been dismissed after his colleagues reported seeing the employee having a seizure while operating heavy machinery.

The Employment Relations Authority upheld the employee’s personal grievance claim for unjustified dismissal.

The ERA held that the employer breached its duty of good faith to the employee by denying the employee access to information surrounding his termination. The employee’s doctor was refused access to the employee’s colleagues who reported the incident, and was thus unable to complete an informed assessment of the employee’s health. Accordingly, the doctor could not certify the employee as being fit to return to work.

The ERA ordered the employer to pay the employee four months lost wages and a $5,000 penalty plus $18,000 compensation for hurt and humiliation.