A security guard accused of defecating in a basin on school grounds and missing rostered shifts was justifiably dismissed, according to the Employment Relations Authority.
Thomas Marsters, who was employed with Allied Security, said his dismissal was “unjustified”, filing a claim at the ERA for lost wages compensation for humiliation, injury to feelings and loss of dignity of some $12,000. He denied the accusations against him.
The guard was sacked in 2022 following a patrol at a Wellington primary school.
During these patrols, Marsters said he would “check matters that were not necessarily part of his job description”.
This included a short walk through a passage between two sheds because a “feeling in his bones” suggested that if someone was going to steal from the school, a tool shed may be targeted.
The end of the passage was fenced off, and by that fence was a basin “that looked more like a trough,” according to ERA member Geoff O’Sullivan.
On March 26, he walked down the passage to check - staying for “extra time”.
Two days later, on March 28, the school complained to Allied after the deputy principal found human faeces in the basin where a security guard had entered.
CCTV footage from the time showed a guard entering the area, with no-one else arriving or leaving over the weekend.
An investigation by Allied found Marsters had been working that night. He confirmed this as well.
Marsters attended several investigation meetings with his employer but vehemently denied being the one who left the faeces.
“He said that when he checked the area, there were no faeces. He also noted that he would have had access to toilets at multiple sites, including at the school,” O’Sullivan said.
“He raised a number of questions, including whether or not the faeces could be identified as human in origin, whether or not they were adult or children’s faeces, whether or not someone could have accessed the space out of sight of the camera and whether or not a neighbour may have thrown faeces over a fence.
“And that in any event, he had bad knees, and it would not be physically possible for him to have defecated in the timeframe.”
Allied also conducted a physical investigation of the site and found it “unlikely” there was anyone else to blame, as someone would have had to scale a 1.8-meter fence to access the basin from behind.
The investigators also said it would only take a “few seconds” to check the passage, but Marsters justifies his extra time because he had no torch, which is why he entered it.
He wouldn’t give a definite answer about why it took so long.
“He says his phone may have ‘dinged’, he may have looked to see whether or not there was a message, or he may simply have rested as he suffers from asthma,” O’Sullivan said.
Allied also looked into several absences Marsters had not notified his work of. He blamed these on his allergies.
Allied determined that Marsters, based on the balance of probabilities, was most likely responsible for the faeces.
They found he had engaged in “serious misconduct” for both the incident at the school and his failure to report to shifts and sacked him on May 20 2022.
After taking his former employer to the authority, it was found Marster’s dismissal was “justified” based on the evidence produced from the investigation.
“Allied Security fully investigated the allegation before dismissing him. Mr Marsters’ was given a reasonable opportunity to respond to the concerns, and the explanations he put forward were genuinely considered,” O’Sullivan said.
“Allied Security sought out what evidence was available and put the evidence they had to Mr Marsters with their concerns.
“They met with him and his representative to discuss his responses which were clear and substantive. Allied Security understood Mr Marsters’ position but, at the end of the day, did not accept his explanations.
“Allied Security was entitled to come to the conclusion they did.”
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