An Auckland college teacher who took a case to the Employment Relations Authority claiming he was repeatedly bullied by other staff was so difficult to work with that his dismissal was found to be entirely justified.
Ray Lewis, a senior economics teacher at Howick College, took a number of grievances to the authority, the most critical of which were that his workload was intolerable and unresolved, that he was bullied by other staff, and that his ultimate dismissal was in retaliation for having complained to the Ministry of Education about college management.
In findings released today, authority member James Wilson dismissed all the grievances, and said Mr Lewis' dismissal was entirely justified.
Mr Wilson accepted college principal William Dimery's submission that, far from being overworked during 2007, the number of economics students had fallen and the numbers in Mr Lewis' classes were quite light.
His workload was not "out of sync" with other teachers but he was given additional administrative support and an extra day off a month.
The authority also ruled that Mr Lewis was not bullied by his colleagues but, rather, that they acted in an "entirely predictable" way in frustration at the way he behaved towards them.
"Regrettably, Mr Lewis appears to have little insight into the effects of his behaviour on those with whom he inter-relates," Mr Wilson said.
He found that Mr Lewis' "obdurate inability to acknowledge any culpability whatsoever" for the situation and his failure to make any real attempt to have a meaningful discussion with the board meant its decision to fire him was "what any fair and reasonable employer would have done".
He rejected Mr Lewis' claim for reinstatement. Mr Wilson said even if he had found the dismissal justified, reinstatement would have been entirely impractical.
"By his constant complaints and personal attacks, throughout the board's disciplinary process and the authority's investigation... Mr Lewis has totally destroyed any trust and confidence his employer may have had in him," he said.
