Mere Broughton was dismissed after 106 days at The Whanau Ora Community Clinic. Her agreement contained a probation clause, and the dispute centred on the employer's attempt to use that clause as a shortcut to termination rather than carrying out a substantively justified and fair process.
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Results for dismissal process
An employer can sometimes end employment where illness or injury means an employee cannot perform the role, but there is no automatic dismissal point. Medical information, prognosis, reasonable time, alternatives and a fair process all matter.
Tracy Alpar worked for Bookieland under an unsigned seasonal fixed-term arrangement and was later told through WhatsApp that her employment had ended. The ERA had to decide whether the purported fixed term complied with the statutory requirements and whether the termination was justified.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand summarily dismissed Russell Kinzett following an investigation into conduct that included breaches of FENZ policies. The ERA held the dismissal unjustified, and FENZ brought a de novo challenge in the Employment Court.
Gregory Clarke was made redundant from Omni Health during financial and organisational change. The ERA accepted the commercial rationale and found no suitable redeployment role, but examined whether a series of consultation and process defects caused a separate unjustified disadvantage even though the redundancy itself was genuine.
Silvertime's store manager summoned Yucen Xi to an evening meeting without explaining its purpose, told her to resign or be fired, demanded her key and called security before any allegations had been fairly raised with her.
Barfoot & Thompson dismissed senior property manager Jonathan Rhodes for medical incapacity while he was recovering from concussion and further head injuries. An imminent neurological assessment had not been obtained and the proposed alternative role did not fit clinical advice for a graduated return on reduced hours.
Adulto HR believed Briar Kennedy was on a 90-day trial, but the agreement given after she started contained no trial clause. The employer then purported to extend the nonexistent trial into probation and dismissed her after 97 days on qualification and performance grounds.
