He was fired for aggression. The Authority found his boss made the unlawful move
A liquor store operator unjustifiably dismissed a migrant retail assistant it accused of aggression, Employment Relations Authority member Robin Arthur ruled on 8 July 2026.
The worker, employed by JIT Limited (JITL) at its Mount Roskill store from 2023 and later at a second store in Whangaparaoa, held an Accredited Employer Work Visa that tied him to the company. JITL dismissed him on 9 December 2024 for serious misconduct, citing aggressive behaviour towards one of its two directors.
The dismissal grew out of a confrontation on 27 November 2024, when a female director came to the store to discuss customer complaints and the worker's annual leave. According to phone recordings the worker made that day, she pressed him to write an email requesting two weeks' leave immediately, telling him: "I am not leaving without the email. I just need the email right now".
Arthur found that instruction breached the Holidays Act 2003. He said when leave is taken is a matter for agreement, and an employer cannot direct an employee to lodge a leave application so time off appears voluntary.
The director also alleged the worker pushed her. He denied touching her at all. Arthur held the allegation was not established, noting CCTV showed the director standing calmly at the counter moments later, and that the other director made no reference to any physical contact when the two men spoke on a recording made soon afterwards.
JITL cancelled the worker's shifts from 3 to 15 December, pointing to the mental stress he had raised, before dismissing him on 9 December. Arthur found both actions unjustified. The cancellation amounted to a suspension imposed with no chance for the worker to comment. The dismissal followed no sufficient investigation and gave him no opportunity to answer the allegations, which by then included claims he had made other inappropriate comments and had copied store CCTV footage.
Arthur found JITL had weighed only one side of the 27 November confrontation, ignoring that its own director had made an unlawful demand.
The Authority reduced the worker's remedies by 15 per cent for contributory conduct. He had admitted misleading the company about plans to seek a Canadian visa in order to delay taking leave, and the Authority found it more likely than not he had used discriminatory terms about social background. On one recording he told the other director: "I do not argue with women and I don't prefer dealing with women".
JITL was ordered to pay $9,019.44 in lost wages and $15,300 for humiliation, both reduced for that conduct, along with $3,210 for 107 hours worked but unpaid, $256.80 in holiday pay, $1,710 in public holiday entitlements, and interest. Arthur imposed $7,000 in penalties, $2,500 of it payable to the worker, and granted him leave to recover the arrears from the two directors personally if the company cannot pay.
