A senior South Australian firefighter sacked for misconduct against a female colleague has lost a bid to have his job reinstated.
Port Augusta firefighter Ramon Kruger was dismissed from his role in December 2020 after the SA Metropolitan Fire Service Disciplinary Committee found he had behaved in an "intimidating manner" two years earlier when he physically grabbed the back of a female firefighter's neck and pushed her head towards the ground in a shed at the fire station.
The disciplinary committee found Mr Kruger's misconduct was "very serious" and that dismissal was suitable.
But Mr Kruger sought a review of that decision in the South Australian Employment Tribunal (SAET), asking the tribunal to find that the incident did not happen or, if it did, was "ill-thought-out horseplay which did not justify dismissal".
The incident was not reported at the time but came to light months later when the MFS undertook an independent investigation into behaviour and conduct at the Port Augusta Fire Station.
Mr Kruger denied the incident, saying it was a "total lie" and that witnesses had colluded against him.
"I wouldn't do something like that to somebody," he said to investigators at the time.
"If I'd done it, it would have been done in jest and I can't recall doing it."
But deputy president of the SAET Stuart Cole found there was no evidence of conspiracy or collusion, or that the incident was made up.
"For the applicant to say he could not recall such an incident, but it may have happened, albeit jokingly, is challenging," Mr Cole said.
"In its submissions provided to the committee, the respondent described the applicant's position as disingenuous. I agree with that description."
Mr Kruger — through his lawyers — had sought to cross-examine the woman and two people who witnessed the incident but could not tell the tribunal what those witnesses would say if they were cross-examined.
"I am not persuaded that it is in the interests of justice for the tribunal to summons the witnesses for the purpose of the applicant cross-examining them," Mr Cole said.
"It seems to me that the applicant wants to shake the tree in the hope that something favourable falls out."
Mr Cole found that the MFS committee had reached the correct decision in finding Mr Kruger had engaged in misconduct and that dismissal from his job was the appropriate sanction.
ABC News has previously reported on several allegations and complaints at the station dating back to 2018 but the findings of the inquiry were kept secret.
A year earlier, the MFS pledged to break up its "blokey culture" and do more to encourage women to join its firefighting ranks after a report commissioned by the fire service found female officers had suffered bullying, harassment and discrimination in the male-dominated workforce.
