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.
Search Employment Law
Search New Zealand employment-law guides, ERA determinations, Employment Court decisions and topics.
Search tips
- Use quotes for exact phrases, eg "unfair dismissal".
- Use +word to require, -word to exclude, eg +redundancy -trial.
- Use OR to broaden, eg dismissal OR redundancy.
Results for employee contribution
Lindisfarne College dismissed long-serving IT manager Kevin Whelan after a serious comment to students while showing CCTV footage of an accident. Although the misconduct could justify dismissal, the College paid four weeks in lieu rather than complying with the collective agreement's one-month notice mechanism or properly invoking instant dismissal.
Café owner Pei Su loudly questioned chef Eun Joo Kim's competence and honesty in front of staff and told her she could go if she could not do the job. Ms Kim left immediately after the confrontation.
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.
Edgecumbe Supermarket Ltd v Petersen [2026] NZEmpC 56 - ERA unjustified dismissal finding upheld
CaseMrs Petersen was immediately suspended after raising concerns about a work task, was required to leave her uniform behind and was threatened with trespass. The dispute was whether those actions objectively communicated that her employment was over.
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.
Deborah Coley's agreement guaranteed at least 32 hours each week, but Bupa sought to vary that guarantee by averaging hours across a six-week roster and presented redundancy as the alternative if she refused. A later disciplinary investigation and written warning added a second strand to the disadvantage claim.
Hamilton Zoo's former senior manager subjected zookeeper Ashleigh Sanders to intrusive personal contact, out-of-hours messages, requests for information about colleagues, favouritism and career-related pressure. She later resigned, long after that manager had left.
