KEY POINTS:
A man fired after calling in sick and then going fishing has won $5000 plus six weeks' pay for unjustified dismissal.
The Employment Relations Authority made the ruling in the case between James McNeill and Solid Energy, despite his "extraordinarily cavalier" approach to his job.
Mr McNeill was an electrician at Huntly's East Mine for almost 10 years and had taken sick leave during that time because of hayfever and the effects of the medication.
He also regularly took time off to go fishing and had, in November 2005, received a formal warning for being absent without leave to go on a fishing trip.
The authority found Mr McNeill's conduct amounted to a misleading and/or fraudulent misuse of his sick leave. However, Solid Energy did not follow the correct procedures in dismissing him, something a "fair and reasonable employer" would do.
The authority said Mr McNeill seemed "almost to see it as an imposition to be required to attend work if it did not suit him" and believed he had done nothing wrong.
The workers had sought three months' lost earnings but was awarded only six weeks.
- NZPA
