Bus driver wins $20k payout
What started with a forgotten purse in Dunedin ended with $20,000 being awarded to an unfairly dismissed bus driver who was ‘‘wrongly branded as a thief and a fraudster’’.
Kevin Hellyer was dismissed by his employer, Go Bus Transport, after an undercover inspector witnessed him letting his wife ride for free.
His wife had forgotten her purse, the contents of which included cash and a Go Bus electronic card.
The court documents acknowledged that ‘‘she could not and did not pay for a $2.90 ticket to take her to a stop near the bus depot where she could retrieve her purse’’.
After he was dismissed, Hellyer took his case to the Employment Relations Authority in September last year.
He was awarded nearly $10,000 by the authority.
Go Bus appealed the decision, but the Employment Court has almost doubled his payout after two hearings in Dunedin earlier this year.
The judgment, delivered by Chief Judge Graeme Colgan, said Hellyer had been a victim of discrimination for his activities as a union delegate for fellow bus workers.
In his capacity as a union delegate, Hellyer had passionately argued for a family pass to be offered to family of Go Bus Transport employers.
Colgan ruled that Hellyer ’’was dismissed in part directly or indirectly because of his involvement in the activities of a union which is a prohibited ground of discrimination’’.
He ordered the company to pay Hellyer a total of $19,721.29 in compensation, lost holiday pay, lost wages and lost Kiwisaver benefits, as well as 5 per cent interest from February 2015 until payment.
Hellyer, now based in Riverton, told the Otago Daily Times he ‘‘couldn’t have wished for a better Christmas present’’.
Go Bus could not be reached for comment.