A Tauranga bus supervisor sacked after making inappropriate and abusive comments has lost his fight in the Employment Relations Authority against his dismissal.

In December 2020, Gary Green was told to put up a notice at his NZ Bus depot advising drivers about planned roster changes.

Green, a service delivery supervisor, believed the proposal would be unpopular and make his job more difficult.

In an email to his manager, which also included NZ Bus chief operating officer Jay Zmijewski​, he said: 'The notice has been posted. I'll provide proper feedback in due course, but I have to say, this is the worst idea since the Hitlers decided to get jiggy and have a baby boy called Adolf. If the goal is to completely shut down Papamoa, this is the way to do it.”

He went on to say he had already pleaded with one driver not to quit, and warned that the company would lose drivers if the proposal went ahead.

Zmijewski told Green his email was unprofessional and offensive.

'He considered Mr Green's comment regarding the Hitler family to have trivialised a very important and deeply tragic period of recent history and to be offensive,” authority member Eleanor Robinson said.

He asked Green to be professional, courteous and respectful in his correspondence in future, and said there would be a meeting between Green and his manager to discuss the matter and ensure he could 'meet the standard required of an NZ Bus employee and supervisor moving forward”.

Green told the authority Zmijewski's response was 'over the top”, and while his comment was not appropriate he did not consider it needed to be escalated to a meeting with his manager.

In an email to Zmijewski, Green said his remark about the Hitlers had been intended as a joke, and was not a personal attack on him.

'I'm sorry if you felt personally offended, but I reiterate that it wasn't a targeted comment, and I suspect you took umbrage because this is your idea?”

In turn, he accused Zmijewski of bullying and abusing his position by arranging the meeting between Green and his manager.

Zmijewski said Green's response indicated he was 'utterly unrepentant”.

'He said in fact Mr Green appeared so convinced that his comment was acceptable and appropriate that he had accused him (Mr Zmijewski) of bullying.”

Green was initially suspended on full pay while NZ Bus investigated the allegation that he had failed to align with company values. In feedback, Green apologised 'unreservedly” to Zmijewski.

He was dismissed for serious misconduct in February 2021, and based on the company's concern it might not be able to trust him to carry out his role properly.

According to his employment agreement, abuse of a member of the public or another employee was serious misconduct.

Robinson said Green had union support at meetings with NZ Bus (NZBT), and the process was fair.

'Although the decision to dismiss Mr Green in light of his later repeated apologies might be seen as severe, I find that NZBT acted as a fair and reasonable employer could have acted in all the circumstances at the relevant time.”

If Green had apologised for his comment early on, the matter would have ended there, she said.

-Melanie Carroll/Stuff.