ERA rejects speeding Air NZ worker's appeal over job loss

Photo / Janna Dixon

An Air New Zealand worker who lost his job after he was clocked speeding around Auckland Airport and then covered the camera took too long to file a personal grievance case and cannot lodge a complaint about his dismissal, the Employment Relations Authority found.

Talaifo Lemalu was snapped by a speed camera while driving a delivery van in an area covered by airside rules at Auckland Airport in February 2007.

After the camera flashed, he then sat in his vehicle for several minutes before approaching the camera and covering its lens, Employment Relations Authority (ERA) member Robin Arthur said.

He already had demerit points on his airside driving permit, and with the further demerit points for the speeding he exceeded the permissible level of points and his permit was cancelled.

He was then fired from his job as a storeperson for breaching airside rules.

In August 2007, Mr Lemalu lodged a personal grievance application to the ERA, but he did not do so within the required 90-day period.

In a letter of response, Air New Zealand said it did not consent to the grievance being raised outside the 90 days and the matter was referred to mediation.

Mediation in March of 2008 did not resolve the matter and the ERA suspended proceedings in April of 2008 when Mr Lemalu said he wanted to get a representative and legal aid.

At the beginning of 2009 he said he would represent himself, but then in April he said Christchurch advocate Kevin Murray represented him.

More than two years later, after no action, Mr Lemalu said he was representing himself.

But in an ERA finding released today it found exceptional circumstances did not prevent him from lodging the application within 90 days and he was declined leave to raise his personal grievance.

Meanwhile, another ERA investigation has found an Air New Zealand team manager at the airport's international passenger operations was justifiably dismissed after he upgraded three tickets, including one for his mother, without charging for the change.

Malae Koria was fired from his job in June of 2010 after an investigation into three transactions found the tickets were changed without a service or change fee being charged, and the passengers were upgraded to business class.

One of the tickets was for his mother travelling to Apia in Samoa for a funeral.

The other two tickets were for family members of a staff member under Mr Koria's management. All three tickets were changed from the cheapest normal fare to a higher booking class and upgraded to business class free of charge.

Mr Koria went to the ERA and said he was unfairly dismissed and the Air New Zealand investigation took an excessive amount of time _ beginning in late November 2009 and ending in June 2010.

But Mr Arthur, for the ERA, found Air New Zealand's decision to dismiss Mr Koria for serious misconduct was what a fair and reasonable employer would do, and it did not treat him unfairly through its decision not to suspend him while it carried out its disciplinary inquiry.

Air New Zealand said it would make no further comment on either of the cases.

Neither Mr Lemalu nor Mr Koria could be reached for comment.