A Tauranga woman who claimed she was unfairly dismissed after she bought liquor and cigarettes on a company card has had her claim rejected by the Employment Relations Authority.
Stacey Larnach, who worked as a centre manager at Wickham Preschool, said she was unjustifiably constructively dismissed by her employer when she left her job in June last year. She said she was also not paid performance bonuses for the job as manager which she held since July 2010.
The ERA said Ms Larnach used an account set aside for children's lunches for her holiday spending, liquor and cigarettes. Ms Larnach was also found responsible for accounting discrepancies totalling about $20,000, the ERA said.
The ERA decision states that while manager of the preschool, Ms Larnach was responsible for countless clerical errors.
Concerns were also raised about Ms Larnach's "inappropriate behaviour" at a staff function in 2011. Her employer arranged for her to attend counselling sessions to deal with her alcohol issues and, when it appeared she had made good efforts, they paid for her holiday in Fiji.
While Ms Larnach was there with her partner, her boss discovered she had continued to use the preschool's Pak'n Save account, which had been set up to buy groceries for children at the centre.
Ms Larnach was responsible for school lunch catering, giving her access to the account. As payment for this responsibility, Ms Larnach could buy $150 of personal groceries each week.
However, she used the money to buy alcohol and cigarettes.
Ms Larnach said she had been advised not to comment on the outcome of the hearing.