An Auckland bus driver fired for serious misconduct after locking a 14-year-old girl inside his bus and grabbing a passenger’s hand has failed to win his job back at the Employment Relations Authority.
Mike Moore, a driver with more than 20 years of service as a bus driver and with Ritchies Bus Holdings since July 2020, challenged his February 2025 dismissal, 1News reported. The Employment Relations Authority revealed that Moore faced 16 separate instances of concerning behaviour between July 2022 and January 2025.
Ritchies Bus Holdings sacked him after he was already on a final warning. Authority member Rachel Larmer ruled that the company’s decision to dismiss him was justified and followed a fair process.
During a route in December 2024, Moore failed to check his vehicle at the final stop and locked a 14-year-old girl inside while he left to buy food. The girl’s mother contacted the police to rescue her daughter. CCTV footage from the same day showed Moore using his mobile phone behind the wheel, driving through a stop sign, and parking illegally on broken yellow lines.
Moore claimed he needed a restroom, but the authority noted he bought food instead and passed closer parking options. Ritchies issued his final written warning in September 2024 after he drove the wrong way down a road toward opposing traffic.
His safety record also included an incident in May 2024 where he accelerated before an elderly passenger could sit down, causing her to fall and cut her leg. Another braking incident in August 2024 left an elderly couple injured after hitting their heads on seats.
Female passengers reported multiple instances of harassment, including a December 2024 incident where Moore repeatedly tried to touch a passenger over several days, grabbed her hand, and asked for her home address. The passenger changed her normal bus route out of fear and requested anonymity because she did “not know what he’s capable of,” 1News reported.
Moore admitted fault regarding the interaction.
““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, according to the Employment Relations Authority decision.
He stated he was “very sorry” for the incident.
Regarding the request for the passenger’s home address, his representatives argued he wanted to offer a closer drop-off point. Earlier complaints from September 2022 recorded Moore kissing a young passenger’s hand and promising to call her during school holidays, behavior he defended as “being friendly.”
Moore sought full reinstatement and financial compensation, arguing his actions did not cross the threshold into serious misconduct. Ritchies defended the termination as both procedurally and substantively justified.
Larmer concluded that every aspect of the December 2024 violations constituted serious misconduct.
““Its decision to dismiss him was within the range of disciplinary sanctions that were available to a fair and reasonable employer in all the circumstances,”” Larmer wrote, according to 1News.
The authority dismissed Moore’s claims entirely. Ritchies Bus Holdings reserved the right to seek costs starting at $4,500.