Firing for misuse of sick leave endorsed
A worker was justifiably fired after his boss saw Facebook pictures of him at a waka ama championship when he was meant to be at home sick, a court has found.
Bruce Taiapa, of Gisborne, has lost an appeal to try to overturn an Employment Relations Authority ruling his employer, the training institute Turanga Ararau, was within its rights to sack him in July 2011 because he misused his sick leave.
Employment Court chief judge Graeme Colgan backed up the authority’s ruling in a decision published this week.
In March 2011, Mr Taiapa, 59, asked to take a week’s leave without pay so he could attend the waka ama championships in Rotorua. He was granted only three days off because no-one was available to cover his work.
The next Monday he called in sick, saying he had a damaged calf muscle.
Two days later, his boss saw a picture of him on Facebook at the championships. Mr Taiapa was smiling and giving the thumbs-up.
Mr Taiapa said he had gone to Rotorua with his whanau to watch teams he had coached. He then travelled to Tauranga, where his grandsons competed in a squash tournament. It was seven days before he and his whanau returned to Gisborne.
Once he returned, he got a doctor’s certificate stating that he had been unfit to work for the past week. He returned to work three days later.
After a series of discussions, manager Sharon Maynard dismissed Mr Taiapa for misusing his sick leave and misleading his employer. She said she had lost trust and confidence in him.
Mr Taiapa’s lawyers argued that Turanga Ararau should not be able to dictate where he recuperated from his illness.
Judge Colgan agreed there were valid reasons for a person to recuperate away from home, but this was not why Mr Taiapa had been dismissed.
If an employee’s actions were inconsistent with recuperation, an employer was entitled to question whether that person was genuinely ill, the judge said.
Mr Taiapa has not secured work since his dismissal in July 2011. He would not comment on the decision.