Air NZ ordered to pay up over internet sackings

Four sacked Air New Zealand engineers are elated after being cleared of allegations they accessed sexually explicit internet sites - and have been awarded almost $80,000 in compensation.

The four - John Bisson, Carl Gardner, Andrew Cameron and Martin King - were fired in 2004 when an audit found their work computers had been used to look at adult websites.

The Employment Relations Authority last week ordered that they be awarded a total of $76,695 and that their jobs be reinstated by Air New Zealand.

The airline was considering an appeal.

Last year, then-chief executive Ralph Norris said pornography had been a factor in the sacking of eight employees, including the engineers.

Mr Cameron told the authority he had browsed for gifts for his wife on lingerie sites and said searches for "hot rod" cars sometimes lead to inappropriate sites.

Mr Bisson said he would sometimes forward "joke" emails featuring "girls with big bosoms" but had never viewed pornography on his computer.

The four all told the authority their computers were regularly accessed by other workers using their log-in details, so there was no way to say who had looked at the adult websites.

Paul Montgomery, ERA member, criticised the airline for not sticking to IT procedures: "It was unsafe for the respondent to reach the conclusions it did."

Mr Bisson, who worked for the airline for 32 years, was awarded $30,040. Mr Gardner received $16,768; Mr Cameron $20,134 and Mr King $9753.75.