Otago Daily Times

Investigat­ion over abusive behaviour

- GEORGE BLOCK george.block@odt.co.nz

A DUNEDIN contractor says a video showing one of its workers urging his colleague to run down a cyclist is ‘‘extremely embarrassi­ng’’, and it has launched an investigat­ion.

The expletivel­aden video showed two employees of Clearwater Civil sitting in the cab of their truck as they travelled behind a cyclist in Portobello Rd on the Otago Peninsula.

It was filmed by the employee sitting on the passenger side of the truck, who urges the driver to run over the cyclist, before unleashing a torrent of abuse at the unwitting rider.

The video was posted on a Dunedin social media page by a Clearwater Civil employee, before it was downloaded by another cyclist and supplied to the Otago Daily Times.

A Clearwater Civil spokesman said the video was ‘‘completely contrary to the culture we try to build in our team,’’ and it had launched an investigat­ion.

‘‘The video is extremely embarrassi­ng.

‘‘The allegation is viewed very seriously and there is an employment investigat­ion under way.’’

The spokesman said he was pleased it appeared the driver had shown proper considerat­ion, slowing to accommodat­e the cyclist on the narrow road.

The man who supplied the video said he had spoken to the owner of the excavating contractor and his concerns were taken ‘‘profession­ally and seriously’’ by the company.

 ?? PHOTO: SUPPLIED ?? A still from a video showing two Clearwater Civil contractor­s threatenin­g to run down a cyclist in Portobello Rd, Dunedin.
PHOTO: SUPPLIED A still from a video showing two Clearwater Civil contractor­s threatenin­g to run down a cyclist in Portobello Rd, Dunedin.

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