"The integrity and probity of senior employees in the investment industry is of enormous importance, with public confidence being critical in the marketplace," he said.
"Mr Hallwright's name and that of [Forsyth Barr] had been inextricably linked."
Hallwright argued the incident occurred outside work and, beyond naming Forsyth Barr as the employer, had no bearing on his job or how he did it, or on the company's business.
He submitted that the media coverage was not balanced and did not accurately reflect the evidence of the case, and therefore should not be grounds for his dismissal.
ERA member Rosemary Monaghan accepted some early media reports in particular had suggested Hallwright had become angry, deliberately run over Mr Kim and fled the scene. But she dismissed the totality of Hallwright's claims.
"The existence of underlying conduct means it cannot be said that the media attention, rather than the conduct, was the cause of any damage to [Forsyth Barr's] reputation. I do not accept that any such damage can be laid at the feet of the media," she said.
"Even if media coverage included inaccuracy and over-statement, the fact remains that the serious incident described in this determination occurred and Mr Hallwright received a criminal conviction as a result."
She found that Forsyth Barr's conclusions were those of a fair and reasonable employer.
Mr Paviour-Smith said after the decision: "We need to think about our business, and it's just a lesson that things can occur which could cause your employment to be at risk through activities that are outside of the workplace. How we conduct ourselves is relevant, and that's the view we took."
Mr Kim said his legs had improved in the past few months, but he was still in pain and would require more operations.
He was looking into the possibility of a civil case to recover his costs.
