The local daily newspaper the Timaru Herald on Thursday 8th April 2010 reported that Karen McMillan a former employee of the Timaru District Council has taken a personal grievance claim against the ratepayers of Timaru. In the same article the Timaru Herald played the role of a judge and reported that Ron Bishop who’s occupation they have described as a former mayoral candidate did unjustifiably dismiss Christine Bennet from Debtor Communications.
What the Timaru Herald did not say is that M/s Bennet was also dismissed from her 2 previous jobs and after she was dismissed from Debtor Communications the Timaru Herald employed her in their credit department but she only lasted with them a few weeks before being employed by Farmside.
Mr Bishop is a successful motivational coach and promoter of the Timaru district but feels the Timaru Herald wants to label him as a failure and not a good employer. Mr Bishop has tried on several occasions to talk to the manager of the Timaru Herald Mr Chris Mc Auslin about Christine Bennets behaviour but both him and his management team all refuse to see him. Last year the Mayor of the Timaru District Council Janie Annear also canceled an appointment to meet with Mr Bishop and discuss the future of the district.
Test case for law change
Ron Bishop and his wife Margaret have offered their case to be debated in parliament in a bid to change the personal grievance clause in the employment relations act 2000. Once this happens the Timaru Herald and Farmside could well come out with egg on their face for employing a person who had been dismissed by 3 employers in a row and not doing a character reference check on the people they employ.
Christine Bennet and her solicitor John Mc Glashan of the law firm RSM Law in their bid to recover M/s Bennets ever increasing lawyers fees have taken 2 charging orders over the Bishop’s joint family home in the hope that should the family home be sold before or after their death they would get their hands on part of their estate.
