[2012] NZEmpC 83 George v Auckland Council [pdf, 95 KB]
...elevate an incident of relatively minor misconduct to an offence of serious misconduct by electing to not believe the employee’s explanation. If that was lawful then the effect would be the routine circumvention by employers of the statutory protection employees have against unjustified dismissal under the Employment Relations Act 2000. That is, it would be a very simple matter for employers to summarily dismiss their employees for any minor incident of alleged misconduct and...