The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating an airline pilot who had his licence suspended because of concerns about alcohol and drug abuse.
The man was dismissed in May, after a colleague consumed a legal herbal pill allegedly supplied by the pilot and was hospitalised.
The Employment Relations Authority has ordered the pilot be re-employed in a non-flying capacity after he complained about unfair dismissal.
In its decision, the ERA says the pilot's employer was also concerned about his breaches of strict rules about alcohol consumption while on stand-by to fly the next day, and past drug and alcohol abuse.
However, ERA member James Crichton questioned the fairness of the pilot's treatment by his employer because he had already been cleared by a police investigation into the incident.
The names of the pilot and the airline are suppressed.
The CAA says the man remains suspended from flying while it completes an investigation into his behaviour.
