The alleged rogue

stephen phillips (s.phillips_at_cowan.edu.au)
Wed, 08 Jul 1998 10:45:22 +0800


Given the nature of the information given by Chris all I can say is
thank god I do not work for most who have replied so far. There is no
clear indication that any of the "incidents" are clearly documented or
provable. If the "incidents" came so close to hull loss or serious
damage presumably they were subject of investigation by NZ air safety or
equivalent; if they were not then the fisrt question is - Why not?
Secondly, were the "incidents" investigated by the company? What was
the outcome of either or both of these investigations - if they occured?

However, regardless of the outcome of any ivestigation if the company
has clear evidence of "... a history if denial of his own problem,
inability to work well with his peers, but sufficiently smart to say and
do the right things when training hurdles are created for him..." then
they are in a postion to do something about the situation. NZ law is
not dramatically different from Oz where dismissal for dangerous
behaviour is clearly supported by the legislation. However, if as is
likely there is little or no paperwork then the situation is more
difficult. Duty of care and reasonable standards etc are all very well
but they must be clearly evident and PROVEN. Thus whilst this captain
does not sound like everyone's idea of the preferred driver he can only
be removed of there is PROOF not supposition, conjecture, anecdotal
evidence or just a 'bad feeling.
Talk of 'wilful misconduct' etc is out of place with more information
and supporting evidence.

Stephen Phillips
Edith Cowan University
Perth
Western Australia