Two Customs officers who were sacked for allegedly leaking sensitive information to a newspaper have been denied temporary reinstatement to their jobs by the Employment Relations Authority.
John Smith and Glenn Rankin claimed they were not given the opportunity to respond to an investigation that concluded Mr Smith was likely responsible for giving personal and confidential information about another employee to The Press in Christchurch.
Mr Rankin is said to have known of the leak but did not notify his employer, thereby breaching their trust.
An Employment Relations Authority determination found the men could not justifiably be reinstated until a further investigation was carried out. A further ERA hearing would be held in June.
Mr Rankin was assistant chief customs officer and had worked for the Customs Service since 1986. Mr Smith, a customs officer, had worked at the service since 2002.
