Tiny Tim,
Really good post and an interesting subject. At least you picked up on this guys failings at the line training stage.
Far worse than this is the pilot that can actually fly well, and is knowledgable, and as such gets through the training and testing, but has a disregard for OPC's or generally cut corners when not in the gaze of a training Captain.
Giving a "good" reference for these people to ease your own HR admin and cost is ultimatley dangerous.
I know of a similar "good" reference for a pilot who had "resigned" then went to another operator with his good reference in hand, got on line quickly, and then crashed killing not only himself and the rest of the crew but passengers as well. Subsequent report sighted his lack of respect for OPC as a significant factor to the accident.