KEY POINTS:
A bus driver who allegedly smoked marijuana with two teenage passengers was justifiably fired, the Employment Relations Authority has ruled.
Rewa Kereopa denied smoking marijuana or sharing a pipe with customers and said she had given the pipe to a teenager after finding it on the bus and realising it belonged to him.
Her employer, Go Bus Transport in Hamilton, said Ms Kereopa was fired following the allegations.
Ms Kereopa was suspended on October 12, 2006, on full pay and dismissed on November 1. The ERA found the dismissal was justified.
The adjudicator said: "I reach that conclusion on the basis of the applicant's admitted conduct alone. She gave a teenager - who was around 16 years old at the time of the event - a pipe to smoke cannabis and watched him smoke from it before taking the pipe back from him ...
"At the very best, her actions were less than what could be expected of a responsible adult working in a responsible job in a public service."
- NZPA