By Mathew Dearnaley
An Auckland bus fraud investigator who accused his inspection squad of a host of time-keeping rorts is contesting his own dismissal.
Barrie Wickens, who is also a registered private investigator, supplied a list in October to fleet operator Stagecoach Auckland of more than 100 alleged irregularities spanning 10 months.
These
included not turning up for work or repeatedly going home several hours early, alleged practices which bus drivers say might have cost the company thousands of dollars.
Mr Wickens joined the rest of the team in going home early or taking unscheduled days off, but says in his report that he was ordered to do so by his leader and kept records under separate direction from a depot manager. In December, Mr Wickens was made redundant from the company's three-member monitoring team, a specialist group charged with guarding against fraud by drivers or passengers.
Restructuring was cited as the reason but it is understood the team has since been restored to its former size.
Mr Wickens has appointed a lawyer, Pila Alba, to take a personal grievance case against the company alleging unfair dismissal.
Neither will comment but Mr Wickens' claims about the inspection squad were raised by a bus driver at a union meeting last week as indicating "one law for them and another law for us."
Auckland Tramways Union president Garry Froggatt said drivers wanted Stagecoach to investigate the allegations fully, given a need for those whose job was to monitor their honesty to be shown to be beyond reproach.
The company will not discuss the case until Mr Wickens' personal grievance claim is dealt with.
Its human resources director, Doug Longdill, said it was important to recognise that the contents of his report were allegations and the company was handling the matter internally.
