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A St John Ambulance area manager sacked after complaints of work-place bullying and sexual harassment were upheld has had his application for interim reinstatement turned down by the Employment Relations Authority.
Pat Wynne, a St John employee of 31 years, was dismissed from his role as Eastern Bay of Plenty area manager in June after being suspended in October last year while allegations against him were investigated.
The Order of St John Midland Regional Trust Board upheld 14 complaints of misconduct against Mr Wynne made by staff at the Opotiki and Whakatane stations.
The authority released its decision this month, saying the overall justice of the case favoured St John.
St John told the authority that although Mr Wynne had excellent technical expertise and skills, it no longer trusted him to deal appropriately with other employees and volunteers. Some workers had threatened to resign if he was reinstated.
St John said it would have to go to impossible lengths to accommodate Mr Wynne's reinstatement to reduce the impact on other people. It said he was unlikely to be permanently reinstated.
Mr Wynne said the allegations stemmed from polarised reactions to his personal situation and St John had not adequately taken that into account.
He was going through a marriage break-up with a woman he worked with and dating another co-worker, whose husband also worked for St John.
He said others misconstrued his words and actions and that any embarrassment and fear caused were not intentional. He believed comments he made were jovial and was surprised they had been interpreted as offensive.
St John had held him accountable for how others interpreted his actions, Mr Wynne said.
The authority said in its report it was not unusual in situations like this for opinions to become polarised.
"It would be surprising if there were not differing views because people will have had a variety of experiences dealing with Mr Wynne and different relationships with him.
"What is of concern is that a number of people have had negative experiences."
The lack of trust other St John workers had in Mr Wynne was a "valid concern", the authority said. "Issues of trust and confidence are an integral part of the employment relationship. A number of employees and volunteers, not all of them complainants, say they do not trust My Wynne and are fearful and anxious about the possibility of his return to work."
Complaints upheld against Mr Wynne included three counts each of sexual harassment and bullying, inappropriate behaviour, using the work-place to discredit and harass employees.
The sexual harassment complaints arose from a social event in Hamilton in 2005, when Mr Wynne allegedly "gyrated" behind an employee while he was dancing, brushed past him and pinched his bottom. He is also said to have "tickled" a paramedic who has since left the Opotiki station.
- NZPA
