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The actions of a boat yard boss who placed a live power saw behind a worker's buttocks as a "joke" have ended up part of a sexual harassment claim.
Bradley Steenhart was awarded $3000 compensation for the incident he described as humiliating - but has failed to win the argument he was unjustifiably dismissed several weeks after starting at Sounds Shipwright Services.
Steenhart worked as a boat yard general hand for the Nelson firm from late September 2020 until December that year. He was employed on a casual basis, but the Employment Relations Authority found the hours and pattern of workdays at the time were closer to fulltime work, which might have been replaced with casual work when the typically busy summer season ended.
A Nelson based boat repair yard has been ordered to pay $3000 compensation to a worker humiliated when a power tool was placed near his buttocks. Photo / Tracy Neal
Steenhart later claimed the company had failed to provide him with a safe working environment, including from unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature.
The incident with the power tool happened as he was bent over pulling out a prop shaft from a boat. The company's director, Lloyd Price, placed a reciprocating sabre saw - without the blade attached - onto his buttock area and turned it on saying "you would like that wouldn't you".
Steenhart said it was offensive and humiliating, including that a customer and an employee had seen it. He said that Price pushed the locking attachment into him past the stopper and it contacted with his buttocks.
Price told the Employment Relations Authority that the incident was a moment of "friendly banter". He had been putting the saw back into the tool rack and triggered it a couple of times when he saw Steenhart bent over but denied touching him with it.
Steenhart did not agree with Price that he thought the incident was funny.
ERA member Helen Doyle said Price likely did not intend to cause offence and that to him it was a joke, but there was language and behaviour of a sexual nature, and the relevance was how it had affected Steenhart.
"Mr Steenhart said in evidence he didn't find it funny and felt disgusted. He said he did not know what to do and carried on but did not laugh.
"I conclude that there was conduct and words of a sexual nature with the sabre saw and that Mr Steenhart found the behaviour unwelcome and offensive and although not repeated it had a detrimental impact on his job satisfaction at that time."
The ERA said engaging in behaviour that amounted to sexual harassment was not consistent with the provision and maintenance of a safe workplace, which was a duty of Sounds Shipwright in the employment agreement.
"It was an action that was unjustified and caused disadvantage to Mr Steenhart in his employment."
His job ended over work he had been doing on a boat brought in for an annual service. Steenhart ended up working over a weekend to fix an oil leak detected during a test run after repairs.
It later transpired that epoxy resin had been used to repair a thread in the vessel's heat exchange unit when a permanent weld was needed. The unit then had to be removed again and the repair redone.
A series of text messages provided in evidence showed that Steenhart was angry he had been blamed for the leak. The messages also showed that Price had shown a degree of restraint in responding to how Steenhart had spoken to him.
On December 9 Steenhart posted on Facebook he was looking for fulltime work. The next day he went to work at the boat yard and on December 11 he said his employment was terminated. He claimed that he was told there was no more work for him after work finished on the boat he had been working on, that he was not fitting in and that he was told to go home.
Steenhart also claimed Price told him to "get the f**k out of my workshop and don't come back", when he said he was not going to finish the job.
The Employment Relations Authority has found a worker who claimed he was sacked had in fact resigned. Photo / 123RF
Price denied this, but instead told Steenhart there was no work until the required part turned up.
The ERA found Price's evidence over what happened after December 11 more consistent than that of Steenhart's, and concluded he was not dismissed, but that he had resigned.
The compensation awarded to Steenhart for the humiliation he felt over the sabre saw incident was short of the $10,000 he had sought. He had also sought $20,000 for the alleged unjustified dismissal but was reimbursed $360 for lost wages.
