‘Dishonest’ repairman loses house, wins $29K

A hose repair worker who lost his house and his partner after getting fired for ‘‘dishonesty’’ has been awarded $29,000 for an unjustified dismissal.

Shane Clement was fired for frequently going to his own workshop when he was supposed to be working for his employer, Diverse Hydraulics & Pneumatics.

His boss Jeff Chandler said Clement was dishonest for going to his own workshop during work hours.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) said Diverse did not act as a fair and reasonable employer as there was insufficient investigation, and Clement was not given a chance to explain.

Clement’s first warning came after he left work early because of a sore throat, but Chandler saw he had not gone home and was instead working at his workshop, which was located near Diverse.

Chandler never asked Clement why he was at his workshop despite leaving work early for feeling unwell.

ERA said the second warning was also unfair – it came after Chandler saw Clement again at his workshop when he was supposed to be meeting clients.

But the ERA said both warnings were unfair as Chandler did not fully investigate why Clement was in his workshop when he was supposed to be somewhere else and he assumed Clement was being dishonest when he was sick.

The ERA said the grounds of dishonesty Diverse relied on to dismiss were ‘‘troubling’’.

‘‘It is not clear that taking his work van to his workshop without permission could be said to be dishonest. In an employment context, dishonesty usually means being deceitful or fraudulent, including falsifying timesheets, or taking goods or money from your employer for your own benefit,’’ the authority said.

Clement said that after he lost his job he also lost his home, and his relationship of 14 years.

Clement has been awarded $12,285 in lost wages, $15,000 in compensation for humiliation, and $1946 in legal costs.