An employer who has been ordered to pay more than $9000 for firing a worker over a worthless magazine has hit back, saying the decision is "extremely unfair".
The Evergreen Food Company, a New Plymouth retail store also trading under the name Seven Up, sacked shop assistant Ericia Durning after she took home a car magazine without permission last year.
Li Liu, who owns Evergreen with husband Paul, said last night that she thought the decision was unfair because they had clearly told Ms Durning not to take the magazine. But a determination by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), released yesterday, said there was an understanding shop workers could take home unsold magazines where the covers had been returned to the publisher for a refund.
On March 13 last year, Ms Durning asked Mrs Liu if she could take home an unsold car magazine, but was refused.
The next day, she took the magazine home with several others. She accepted she did not ask permission but said she was unaware she had picked it up.
After seeing Ms Durning take the magazines on security footage, Mrs Liu gave her an employment agreement, and asked her to sign and backdate it to her start date. She then dismissed her for theft.
The incident was reported to police, who declined to lay charges after finding the magazine was worthless.
The ERA said it was "clearly an unjustified dismissal". Evergreen was ordered to pay $6720 in lost wages and $2500 in compensation.