Firm must reinstate man sacked over toilet break

Meat processor PPCS Ltd has been ordered to reinstate an employee sacked after a shouting match with a boss after taking a toilet break.

The issue in the case was whether the employee arranged cover when he went to the toilet and whether the face-off with a production manager, involving offensive personal abuse, amounted to serious misconduct.

Viliami Vakapuna was the only spreader on a paint table processing sheep skins at the Shannon fellmongery when he went to the toilet. He was dismissed on January 25.

Production manager Maurice Tribe hit the stop button on the conveyer belt in the factory because wool quality is affected when skins bunch up on the production line.

Obscenities passed between Mr Tribe and Mr Vakapuna.

The ruling by the Employment Authority found that Mr Vakapuna had told Mr Tribe to "piss off" and called him stupid but also that witness accounts of the interchange between the men varied and that Mr Tribe had contributed to the situation.

The court ordered that Mr Vakapuna be reinstated and paid three months' wages minus 40 per cent. Costs were reserved.

- NZPA