CHRIS GARDNER
Shop assistant Zara Warren has been awarded nearly $12,000 after the Employment Relations Authority found she had been unjustifiably dismissed from her job at Xpressions Fashion Clothing in Napier.
Greg Wood, who investigated the case in Napier on November 11, awarded Miss Warren $10,000 compensation and $1809 in lost wages
after she was dismissed from the Dalton Street shop by owners Graham and Elaine Flynn.
According to Mr Wood's determination the 23-year-old, who now lives and works in Wellington, was employed by Xpressions in February, 2004, for a minimum of 20 hours a week at a starting rate of $10 an hour. The shop manager said her pay would increase to $11 an hour after three months, as long as her performance was satisfactory.
But her hours were dropped to fewer than 20 hours after the Flynns became concerned with the profitability of the store and in mid-September she received three weeks' notice, since the shop had been sold.
Miss Warren wanted to know what was happening with her job but was told the sale of the shop was none of her business. The sale never occurred and the Flynns continued to run it until it closed in May, 2005. The couple opened a new shop in Kennedy Road after re-organising the business.
After Miss Warren raised a personal grievance Mrs Flynn rang her and accused her of harassing her teenaged granddaughter, who was offered the shop, and Mrs Flynn told her she was "going to get her".
Mr Wood said the Flynns had the opportunity to keep employing Miss Warren when the sale did not go through and Mrs Flynn's threat had been an aggravating factor.
But Mrs Flynn, who said she did not take part in mediation or respond to the claim because she could not afford the $5000 legal fees, told Hawke's Bay Today she disagreed with the evidence in Mr Wood's determination and denied telling Miss Warren that she would "get her."
Mrs Flynn said she had learned of a serious illness in the family when the case surfaced. "This has had a terrible effect on my business and personal life."
Miss Warren did not wish to be interviewed.
