Auckland Bus Driver Fails Job Bid After Misconduct
An Auckland bus driver sacked for serious misconduct after locking a 14-year-old girl on his bus and inappropriately touching female passengers has failed to get his job back, 1News reported.
Long-serving driver Mike Moore lost his job at Ritchies Bus Holdings in February 2025 following a string of disciplinary complaints. He had worked as a bus driver for more than 20 years and joined Ritchies in July 2020.
Moore took his dismissal to the Employment Relations Authority, claiming the sacking was substantively unjustified. Authority member Rachel Larmer ultimately rejected his claims.
Larmer found that Ritchies followed a fair process and that Moore’s dismissal fell within the range of available disciplinary sanctions. The company was also entitled to seek costs starting at $4,500.
The disputes centered on a series of safety incidents and behavioral complaints spanning several years. Ritchies dealt with 16 instances of concerning behavior involving Moore between July 2022 and January 2025.
During a December 2024 run, Moore failed to check if all passengers had disembarked at the final stop. He locked the bus with a 14-year-old girl still inside while he left to buy food.
The driver parked on broken yellow lines and partially blocked a driveway during the stop. The girl’s mother called the police to help free her daughter.
CCTV footage from that day also captured Moore using his phone behind the wheel, driving through a stop sign, and parking illegally. He claimed he needed to use the toilet, but investigators noted he purchased food and passed parking options closer to restrooms.
Later that month, a female passenger reported Moore repeatedly touched her inappropriately across multiple days. She said he grabbed her hand and asked for her home address.
The passenger changed her bus route out of fear and asked to keep her identity hidden from the driver. CCTV footage confirmed the touching and showed Moore interfering with the passenger’s fare tagging.
“It is very clear now that interaction with passenger of the nature which has led to this present complaint, simply cannot happen again,” Moore said regarding the incident, according to the authority’s decision.
His legal representation submitted that Moore “was possibly offering a closer stop to assist the passenger, so had asked specifically where she lives.”
Ritchies recorded four other instances of inappropriate touching involving young passengers. In September 2022, Moore kissed a passenger’s hand and told her he would phone her during the holidays.
A year later, he pulled another passenger by the arm and told her she did not have to pay a fare. Moore characterized the behavior as being friendly while acknowledging he should not touch passengers.
His safety record included five driving-related incidents. In May 2024, he accelerated before an elderly passenger could sit down, causing her to fall and cut her leg.
An elderly couple hit their heads on forward seats in August 2024 when Moore braked the bus roughly. Ritchies issued him a final written warning in September 2024 after he drove the wrong way down a road toward oncoming traffic.
Moore argued his actions did not constitute serious misconduct and sought reinstatement alongside financial remedies. Ritchies maintained the dismissal was justified because Moore committed multiple offenses while on a final warning.