Gay customs officer keen to strip-search, hearing told

A gay Christchurch Customs officer sought to perform more than his fair share of male passenger strip searches, say two colleagues sacked for allegedly revealing details about his behaviour.

Glenn Rankin, an assistant chief customs officer with nearly 17 years' service, and John Smith, a customs officer for eight years, were giving evidence at an Employment Relations Authority hearing this week where they are fighting to get back their jobs at Christchurch Airport, The Press newspaper reported.

Both men deny leaking material and said their dismissals in March were unjustified.

The hearing was told officers were concerned about a gay customs officer, described as "flamboyant", who allegedly sought more than his share of strip-search assignments and made lewd comments about male passengers.

The officer, who still works for the service and whose name is suppressed, also allegedly used recreational drugs.

Customs Service policy bars the service from asking the sexual orientation of its frontline officers because of potential charges of unlawful discrimination.

Its legal advice said passengers were not entitled to know the sexual orientation of officers conducting strip searches at airports and ports.

Customs manager, central and southern airports, Stuart Lumsden, told the hearing that the gay officer's search statistics could look bad, but he worked the busiest shifts and was often the only male available to search male passengers.

The service did not want Mr Rankin and Mr Smith back even if the authority decided they were unjustifiably dismissed as managing a workplace where the three officers had to work together would be difficult, he said.

Closing submissions would be heard next week.

- NZPA