Postie fired for critical Facebook comments

Lyndon Hohaia claimed he did not know his entries could be read by the public. Photo / The Aucklander

A postie who used Facebook to criticise his job and humiliate a workmate says he did it "for a laugh" without realising anyone could read his blogs.

Lyndon Hohaia, a former Auckland postman, sought interim reinstatement and $7000 for loss of dignity and injury to his feelings after New Zealand Post fired him in June for bringing the company into disrepute.

The Employment Relations Authority heard how Mr Hohaia had set up two Facebook pages called PostieLad and PostieLand, which have both been closed down, for family and friends.

He claimed he did not know his entries could be read by the public.

But Gwion Thornley, delivery leader at the Rosedale delivery branch where Mr Hohaia worked, said he had brought NZ Post into disrepute and seriously damaged its reputation.

The company claims Mr Hohaia agreed at a June 11 disciplinary meeting that the blog identified him and others contributing to it as working for the firm.

Mr Hohaia acknowledged the damage that might be done by statements that had been put in the public domain via his sites, including "unflattering references" about a female colleague's body and a "description given in crude colloquial terms" about some NZ Post customers.

Mr Hohaia was given two weeks' notice of his dismissal on June 15.

ERA member Alastair Dumbleton said Mr Hohaia had an arguable case and said there was a question about whether his explanations during the disciplinary meeting were recorded in the meeting notes as represented by NZ Post in its dismissal letter.

He said Mr Hohaia disputed that he accepted and agreed, as stated in the dismissal letter, that his actions had damaged the employer's reputation or had denigrated and humiliated a work colleague.

Further questions were raised about whether other employees who had contributed material to the blog were being treated more favourably.

But Mr Dumbleton declined Mr Hohaia's application for interim reinstatement, saying his Facebook statements suggested "a significant loss of respect, trust and confidence in his employer".

An investigation into Mr Hohaia's claim for unjustified dismissal was to have been held, but both parties reached an agreement out of court on Tuesday.

Yesterday, Mr Hohaia told the Herald he was bound by a confidentiality clause not to comment on the details of his settlement or the issues surrounding it, but he had left his job.

"It was a disappointing result that I lost my job there for what I did but unfortunately I can't say much more than that."

A New Zealand Post spokeswoman confirmed that Mr Hohaia would not be returning to work and the matter had been resolved.

She said such incidents were rare.

"Our posties do take pride in delivering a trusted service," she said.

"While these sorts of incidents are rare, we take a zero-tolerance view of these breaches and act quickly when we become aware of them."