Paul Adams v EverEdge Global Limited [2026] NZERA 509

EverEdge Global Limited stopped paying founder and CEO Paul Adams while he continued working from Amsterdam. It ignored repeated demands for payment, gave no contemporaneous explanation, and later advanced several inconsistent reasons. The Employment Relations Authority found that EverEdge deliberately withheld salary to pressure Mr Adams to resign. That was an unjustified constructive dismissal, resulting in orders totalling $267,640.69.

Founder, director, shareholder and employee

Mr Adams founded EverEdge in 2013 and remained its CEO. He was also a director and held shares through a family trust. A 2023 share sale to a Singaporean company controlled by Max Goh did not proceed smoothly and generated wider disputes about the parties' commercial obligations.

Mr Adams moved with his family to Amsterdam intending to continue as CEO and develop EverEdge's European business. Remote work was not new to EverEdge, which operated internationally. The Authority found substantial evidence that the company and the incoming interests knew of and generally accepted the move.

Director resignation did not end employment

Mr Adams resigned as a director on 14 March 2024 but expressly said he remained CEO on his existing employment terms. His salary was paid up to 15 March and was ordinarily paid fortnightly in arrears. EverEdge then failed to pay on 29 March, 12 April and 26 April.

Mr Adams repeatedly contacted the board and Mr Goh, pointed out the contractual and statutory breaches, and demanded payment. He said he continued working and produced calendar and email evidence supporting ongoing CEO activity from Amsterdam. EverEdge gave no substantive answer while his employment continued.

Resignation after three missed paydays

On 1 May 2024 Mr Adams resigned, stating that EverEdge's complete failure to pay him despite repeated warnings was a fundamental breach that caused his resignation. The Authority readily accepted that an employer is contractually required to pay salary and must pay the entire amount due under the Wages Protection Act 1983.

Even if EverEdge had concerns about Mr Adams moving overseas or the amount of work he was doing, it was required to communicate, investigate and address those concerns fairly. It had no basis simply to stop all salary in the meantime. Three consecutive missed paydays were a sufficiently serious breach that resignation was reasonably foreseeable.

A deliberate attempt to coerce resignation

The Authority also upheld the alternative constructive-dismissal basis: a deliberate course of conduct intended to force Mr Adams out. Evidence indicated Mr Goh was angry after Mr Adams resigned as a director and had threatened to fire him as CEO. Another director wrote that he had not agreed to withhold payments without a formal settlement or conclusion.

EverEdge supplied several later explanations: that Mr Adams had already resigned, that senior staff were not being paid, that Amsterdam was unauthorised, that he was not working, and that he was “contract staff” paid day-to-day. The inconsistent explanations and lack of contemporaneous documents undermined the defence. The most likely conclusion was that pay was stopped to pressure Mr Adams in the share-sale and settlement disputes and to obtain his resignation without following an employment process.

Unjustified constructive dismissal

Both asserted forms of constructive dismissal were established. The non-payment was a fundamental breach that caused a reasonably foreseeable resignation, and EverEdge also adopted a deliberate course of conduct calculated to destroy the employment relationship. No fair and reasonable employer could completely stop salary without raising and investigating its concerns or deliberately use non-payment to coerce resignation.

Six months' lost remuneration

Mr Adams sought remuneration through March 2026, but the Authority adopted a counterfactual period from 1 May to 1 November 2024. His overseas location, lack of local networks and unfamiliar labour market made obtaining comparable employment difficult, and he made persistent efforts to find work. Against that was existing tension within EverEdge and uncertainty over how long his CEO position would have continued.

The Authority awarded $182,812.55 gross lost remuneration and $5,484.38 employer KiwiSaver contributions for the six-month period. It separately awarded unpaid salary of $40,625.01 gross and $1,218.75 employer KiwiSaver for 16 March to 1 May.

Compensation, contribution and penalty

Being forced from the company he founded after investing years of work, reputation and emotional energy was deeply distressing. Mr Adams had no opportunity to say goodbye to staff, experienced repeated job-search rejection and suffered reputational impact as a senior public-facing employee. Compensation was fixed at $30,000.

EverEdge sought a 100 percent contribution reduction based mainly on a February 2024 employment agreement connected with the Amsterdam move. The Authority found the then directors knew of and agreed to that agreement, the document was needed for immigration purposes, and it did not cause the later decision to stop pay. No contribution reduction was made.

A $7,500 penalty was imposed for the sustained and intentional failure to communicate actively and constructively. It was directed entirely to Mr Adams. Separate penalties for the same non-payment conduct were declined because that conduct already formed the core of the successful grievance.

Why this case matters

Commercial, directorship and shareholder disputes do not suspend employment law. A person may be a founder, director and shareholder while also remaining an employee entitled to salary and a fair process. Stopping pay to obtain negotiating leverage or provoke resignation is a particularly direct route to constructive-dismissal liability.

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Source: Employment Relations Authority determination hosted on determinations.era.govt.nz.