bullying

A food worker who poured two cups of Diet Coke at work without paying for them has lost her job and is facing criminal charges.

Dunedin worker Jackie Lang was fired from her fulltime job at fast-food franchise Subway after she shared a drink with a friend while consoling her during a break.

About two weeks after she was fired, police charged her with the theft of two cups of Coke valued at $4. She will appear in Dunedin District Court this month.

Autonomous Workers Union organiser Bill Clark says the dismissal is one of the worst he has seen. He says the Subway handbook allows free soda and water while working.

Losing her job and facing criminal charges has upset Lang, who is taking a personal grievance action against Subway. Through an intermediary, she said the company's actions were a shock, embarrassing and had caused her financial hardship. She felt she should have been given a warning rather than been fired and that the response was out of proportion to her actions.

"I shared my drink with my friend. I was only trying to comfort her. Isn't it what most people would do? I mean, I wasn't trying to do anything wrong. I did what I thought any person would do in the situation."

Security video footage of the incident shows Lang sharing the drink with her friend, then refilling the cup and leaving it on the table when she returned to work.

"Most people wouldn't be fired and put in a police cell for two hours for sharing a drink."

Clark said Subway called Lang to a meeting on March 19 without telling her it was a disciplinary matter. She was then told her action had been referred to police. Lang was charged with theft 20 days later.

Clark is surprised managers at the George St Subway did not deal with the incident internally as Lang had a clean employment history and no criminal record.

"It's a human thing to do to offer a drink as comfort. If Subway doesn't like it, they have internal procedures to deal with that."

Clark says Lang, who has Asperger's syndrome - a form of autism - has been hit hard by the stress of losing her job and facing charges, including having to explain the situation to her new boss. "She just wants it to go away," he said.

Protests were held outside the George St Subway yesterday, drawing attention to Lang's case.

Public support for Lang has been strong and local business have made donations to cover potential legal bills.

The owners of the George St Subway were unavailable for comment last week. No one could be contacted at Subway's South Island office. The person who could comment from the North Island office was unavailable.

In a letter addressed to Lang, the directors said she had given the drink to a friend without payment and that was considered "serious misconduct" and a breach of their "trust and fidelity".

National Distribution Union solicitor David Fleming said he had heard of cases where people were dismissed for similar things, but getting the police involved was unusual.

"It would be the exception rather than the norm."

Patrick Wynn has been accused of bullying at the Whakatane ambulance station

A love triangle has left the eastern Bay of Plenty without an advanced paramedic after the area manager was stood down on bullying allegations - lodged by his estranged wife.

Patrick Wynne, the St John Whakatane area manager, has been stood down on full pay since he allegedly harassed his paramedic wife Linda in the ambulance station last October, after she accused him of having an affair with another St John staff member.

Married for just over a year, Linda Wynne took unpaid leave over the incident and has hired a top Auckland employment lawyer to act on her behalf in mediation meetings with St John Midlands.

She has since resigned and the couple has separated.

The situation has meant that for six months the eastern Bay of Plenty has been without an advanced paramedic - Patrick Wynne was the only one - and Whakatane has been reduced to only one ambulance that provides 24/7 cover.

St John Midland chief executive Eddie Jackson said he was unable to discuss why Wynne was stood down for privacy and legal reasons.

"However, we can say that St John takes the welfare of all of our staff, volunteers and the public seriously," Jackson said in a statement.

"We can assure the public that we have robust policies in place to ensure the welfare of our staff, volunteers and the public."

When asked whether it was safe that Whakatane was without an advanced paramedic, Jackson said Wynne's position had been filled by acting station managers who were "qualified and experienced ambulance officers".

However, advanced paramedics were clinically qualified to administer drugs and other lifesaving equipment which is critical in emergency situations.

"The whole concept of advanced paramedics is for extreme situations, like trauma and cardiac, they're the life support guys," said Neil Chapman, organiser for the ambulance workers in the National Distribution Union.

"One argument we've heard is that Whakatane is handy to a base hospital.

"You tell that to someone who's in an accident in the back of Opotiki which is an hour-and-a-half drive [away]."

Chapman said the union was concerned by the lack of advanced paramedic cover and that there was only enough staff rostered on to man one ambulance.

Pat Wynne confirmed to the Herald on Sunday he had stood himself down from the ambulance service, but refused to comment further, as did Linda Wynne, who did not want to affect her employment case.

Linda Wynne's lawyer Mark Ryan declined to discuss the case other than to confirm his client had raised employment related issues with her employer.

"We're working together to resolve them," Ryan said.

Pat Wynne is well known in the Whakatane region.

When storms lashed the beachside settlement of Matata, causing mudslides to wipe out most of the homes in 2004, Wynne was among those who risked his life to save Beverley Freeman, who was trapped among the wreckage of her home.

Wynne also was sent to the Melbourne Commonwealth Games last year to help attend to spectators' needs.