'The timing of the dismissal strikes me as both retaliatory and arbitrary'
An employee paid with "large pots of Nutella and a ride-on mower" won over $26,000 after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ruled that she was "unjustifiably dismissed" from her job.
Tracy Tahuhu worked as a front-of-house manager at The Springfield Hotel in Canterbury, where she began in August 2020.
While employed with the hotel, Tahuhu's wages were being offset in a "barter-styled arrangement" that she agreed to where she was paid with Nutella and a ride-on mower. Some of her wages were also used to pay the bar tab of her husband, who was a regular patron at the hotel.
After she was promoted to front-of-house manager in June 2021, Tahuhu alleged that she was "verbally abused" on "multiple occasions throughout her employment" by the hotel's sole company director, Blair Wallace.
A written statement from Tahuhu that was presented to the ERA described Wallace's behaviour as "very unstable," where he would "start yelling, shouting, and throw things around the kitchen" to intimidate Tahuhu and the cook.
"Tahuhu described working with Mr Wallace like 'walking on eggshells' as she would never know when she was going to be yelled at and that she needed to check whether it was safe for her to go into the kitchen where he worked as he would become aggressive when he saw her, make loud banging noises, and throw things around," the ERA court document said.
Tahuhu raised this personal grievance to Wallace on January 25, where she was represented by Maryline Suchley. In the same written statement, she also recalled a staff meeting earlier in the year where Wallace's partner, Shelley Watson, commented in front of staff that Tahuhu could no longer work on Friday nights because she was "not young enough" and she did not have "big enough boobs."
On the same day of raising the personal grievance, Suchley received an email from Watson who was threatening to lodge a complaint against Tahuhu with the Accident Compensation Corporation.
Tahuhu was also informed to return the keys to the hotel after she was deemed a "security risk." She also lost access to the online payroll system, with her final pay already calculated.
"Tahuhu surmised that she had been dismissed by the hotel without notice," the ERA said.
The matter was raised by Tahuhu in February 2022.
ERA sides with manager
The ERA sided with Tahuhu in saying that she was "unjustifiably dismissed" from her job, citing the action of her employer that gave an "overall impression" that she was being sent away.
"The timing of the dismissal strikes me as both retaliatory and arbitrary but more importantly unjustified and without proper regard to fair process. I find that Ms. Tahuhu was unjustifiably dismissed and that she is entitled to remedies," said ERA member Peter Fuiava in his decision.
Tahuhu was also "unjustifiably disadvantaged as a result of verbal abuse and intimidating behaviour" from her employer, according to the decision, which cited the evidence and provided by Tahuhu and several witnesses.
On the matter of sexual discrimination, Fuiava said the authority no longer has a jurisdiction as it was not raised to the ERA within the required 90-day period after the incident took place.
The hotel has not engaged with the process of the investigation, according to the ERA. It also did not file a reply to Tahuhu's problem.
In its decision, the ERA awarded Tahuhu $18,000 in compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity, and injury to feelings for unjustified disadvantage and unjustified dismissal.
She was also awarded $316.25 from an unlawful deduction on her final pay, $2,734 in wage arrears and holiday pay, including interest, and lost wages of $1,800.
