An Auckland car parts company must pay more than $50,000 to a former employee after she claimed she was "bullied" and "intimidated" by its director.
The woman, Courtney Brooker, 21, resigned from her job at Japanese Car Parts Limited after she had become "so ground down" by her employer that her physical, mental, and emotional health became "seriously adversely impacted".
Her resignation came after just 14 weeks after starting at the company.
It was Brooker's first job outside her family's business, and she was initially enthusiastic about the role due to her love of Japanese cars.
A recently released Employment Relations Authority report detailed her treatment at the company.
Most of the issues raised were directed at Japanese Car Parts's sole director, Ali Hassani, who targeted the young woman "in a way that other employees, including her manager, had noticed and commented on, but had failed to stop".
While working at Japanese Car Parts, Brooker was discouraged from taking rest breaks and told she had to take them at her desk so Hassani could monitor her. She was then criticised and "micromanaged" (including moving her desk) when she insisted on taking her statutory rest breaks away from her desk.
She was told to come to work while sick so Hassani could see for himself how ill she actually was, even when other employees knew she was genuinely unwell.
Brooker was told to do parts of her job outside and then criticised for not being at her desk. She was also required to use her phone for parts of her job but was criticised when she did so.
She was also blamed for issues caused by a letter sent to a neighbouring business, even though she had not written it, sent it, reviewed it before sending it, or even known if it had been sent.
There were also several issues related to her wages and employment agreement.
She was paid less than she should have and faced lengthy delays in receiving wage arrears. She also had her contractual hourly rate unilaterally reduced from $23 to $20 because Hassani was "unhappy with her".
Brooker was "pressured" into signing employment agreements with unfair terms, with Hassani refusing to meet her in person to discuss her concerns. He then blamed her for not signing the contract.
Hassani had a probationary period clause unilaterally in her employment agreement.
He then initiated a "sham" disciplinary process against her without providing any specific information or documents to support his concerns about her raising issues about the employment agreement.
'Bullied and intimidated'
In a written statement to the authority, Brooker said her time at Japanese Car Parts left her feeling "bullied and intimated".
"They had consistently mistreated me and made me feel like I had no choice but to resign. I simply could not take it any longer, so I resigned effective immediately," she said.
"Constant meetings with several superiors in attendance have made me feel bullied and intimidated, and the stress over being potentially fired, not to mention the stress of other situations I've been put through in work, has made my working environment extremely unpleasant and upsetting.
"The stress over the contract, being stood down without pay, the office dynamics towards me changing, pressure regarding rest breaks, moving my desk, lack of communication, lack of fair treatment, as well as being yelled at and all the false accusations that were made against me."
Japanese Car Parts Limited disputed all of Brooker's claims, even when the evidence provided by its witnesses and documents supported them.
On the other hand, authority member Rachel Larmer found Brooker and her mother to be "straightforward and credible witnesses".
The woman's evidence consisted of documents and transcripts of meetings with superiors she had secretly recorded. Larmer said these transcripts validated Brooker's claims.
Company forced to pay up
Larmer found Japanese Car Parts responsible for numerous breaches of the Employment Act and Brooker's resignation was a constructive dismissal, which can happen when an employer's actions or inaction make the situation at work so intolerable that an employee felt they had no choice but to resign.
"These breaches were so serious that they contributed to the ending of her employment after only 14 weeks, which was a major setback for her," Larmer said.
"Ms Brooker resigned in order to protect herself from the ongoing and inappropriate pressure that Japanese Car Parts (at the instigation and/or on instruction of Hassani) had repeatedly subjected her to.
"There was nothing to indicate that would not continue had she not resigned."
She also said the employer had adopted an "aggressive" and "adversarial" approach towards Brooker.
Japanese Car Parts was ordered to pay penalties of $13,000, of which $8000 would go to Brooker.
The company was also ordered to pay her $3000 in compensation for unfair bargaining, $7000 in distress compensation for her suspension, $21,250 in compensation for her constructive dismissal claim and $11,040 in gross loss renumeration.
It means Brooker would be paid a total of $50,290, which would have to be made within 28 days of the July 13 ruling.
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