Wednesday 25th January 2012
A pilot sacked after an investigation into a booze- and drug-fuelled party at his Christchurch flat has lost a long-running fight to win back his job.
The pilot, known only as Mr A, was fired by Pacific Blue in May 2010 after a series of investigations into alcohol-related events during his 21 months at the airline.
In a ruling released yesterday, Employment Relations Authority (ERA) member James Crichton ruled Mr A was correctly dismissed but noted issues with the initial handling of an investigation into the party.
The pilot had invited the crew of a transtasman flight to his flat after they landed at Christchurch in June 2009.
According to the ruling, Mr A gave revellers a caffeine product called Red Alert. "All participants consumed alcohol in varying quantities (some to excess) and each of the participants was allegedly given a product called Red Alert by A."
In the early hours of the next morning, a female flight attendant was admitted to hospital still in her Pacific Blue uniform showing symptoms of a drug or alcohol overdose.
She told hospital staff she blanked out after being given a pill by Mr A, and woke up at 11.45am with no memory of what had happened
For the full story go to:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/alcohol-abuse/news/article.cfm?c_id=115&objectid=10779678