| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Auckland |
| Reference No | AA 443/05 |
| Hearing date | 26 Oct 2003 |
| Determination date | 17 November 2005 |
| Member | J Scott |
| Representation | M Leaf ; no appearance |
| Location | Auckland |
| Parties | Radovanovich v Ocean and Merchant Pty Ltd |
| Summary | UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL - Redundancy - No appearance for respondent - Application had relatively long history - Alleged was an unjustified dismissal dressed up as a redundancy - Applicant had received verbal warning and final written warning - Applicant alleged manager embarked on plan to set up him as person who was letting the team down with view of dismissing him - Applicant came across communication which could be interpreted as being a scenario to get rid of a poor employee under the guise of a redundancy - Letter advising position was redundant simply left on applicant's desk - Alleged visited premises since and saw business still trading with someone else employed - Applicant credible witness - As respondent did not attend investigation meeting, had not discharged burden of establishing that termination was justified - More probable than not that respondent decided to terminate employment of employee it saw as troublesome" under guise as a termination for redundancy - In dealings with applicant in terms of warnings and termination of employment, respondent presented decisions as a fait accompli - Complete absence of any discussion - Respondent's issues of concern or proposal for restructuring should have been put to worker, should have advised applicant of right to representation, and should have allowed applicant opportunity to explain conduct or provide input into restructuring proposals - Applicant sought $5,000 to reimburse him for loss of benefit of commissions on sales - Letter of appointment promised only to discuss bonus based on commission on sales over agreed budget - No agreement reached on bonus to be paid - Sales representative" |
| Result | Application granted ; Reimbursement of lost wages ($8,775)(3 months) ; Compensation for humiliation etc ($10,000) ; Costs reserved |
| Statutes | ERA Second Schedule cl12 |
| Number of Pages | 5 |
| PDF File Link: | aa 443_05.pdf [pdf 26 KB] |