| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Auckland |
| Reference No | AA 407/04 |
| Hearing date | 11 Aug 2004 - 12 Aug 2004 (2 days) |
| Determination date | 13 December 2004 |
| Member | R A Monaghan |
| Representation | G Pollak ; P Skilton |
| Location | Auckland |
| Parties | Li v Auckland University of Technology |
| Summary | UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL - Serious misconduct - Concerns over quality of applicant's work - Final warning given after independent assessment and opportunity to improve - Respondent attempted to arrange meeting to address further failure to improve performance - Applicant refused order to attend meeting as representative unavailable - Summarily dismissed for failure to carry out lawful instruction - Prior conduct not relevant as justification assessed with reference to reason given for dismissal - Refusal to attend meeting not wilful - Entitled to wait until representative available - Dismissal unjustified - REMEDIES - Position disestablished since dismissal - Reinstatement not practicable - Reimbursement of lost wages restricted to one month as dismissal for poor performance at proposed meeting inevitable - Highly unlikely such dismissal would have been found unjustified - Compensation for humiliation to be at low end of scale given applicant's defiant conduct - Difficult for respondent to accord applicant dignified departure in circumstances - Computer programmer |
| Result | Application granted ; Reimbursement of lost wages ($3,077.25)(1 month) ; Compensation for humiliation etc ($3,500) ; Costs reserved |
| Cases Cited | New Zealand (with exceptions) Food Processing etc IUOW v Unilever New Zealand Limited [1990] 1 NZILR 35;Sky Network Television Ltd v Duncan [1998] 3 ERNZ 917 |
| Number of Pages | 10 |
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