The former Laser Clinics New Zealand branch in Ponsonby was shuttered in August. Image / Google
Staff members at a Ponsonby beauty clinic have been left out of work and out of pocket after a franchise dispute led to the closure of their workplace.
When the Ponsonby Rd branch of Laser Clinics New Zealand was shuttered on August 16, it was an unwelcome surprise to Behnoosh Bahmanpour. The beauty therapist, who’d been employed as the clinic manager since 2022, arrived for her Saturday shift only to find she couldn’t access the clinic’s computer systems.
Confused, Bahmanpour phoned her boss, franchisee Gordon Frykberg. He didn’t pick up. With customers waiting for treatments, Bahmanpour tried Michelle Taylor, general manager for the franchisor Laser Clinics New Zealand. When she answered, Taylor told Bahmanpour that the store had closed, and staff should not be on the premises. She instructed them to leave immediately.
The news was bewildering, especially for Bahmanpour, who was three months into a second battle with cancer. The clinic’s four staff had been told their workplace was closing, but understood the franchise agreement would terminate on August 31.
Frykberg had verbally notified Bahmanpour in late April of plans to close the clinic, and the rest of the team were told a month later at a dinner.
Frykberg said “staff were advised months in advance regarding the 31 August closure and were updated regularly”, but Behmanpour claims all updates were verbal and through Frykberg.
“We never receive any emails from the head office. They just told Gordon he must communicate with us, but none of us got any written letter or email from LCNZ or LCA; we never got any email mentioning redundancy.”
Laser Clinics said it made the decision to terminate the franchise agreement for Laser Clinics Ponsonby because of “repeated and material unremedied breaches” by the franchisee.
“Our actions were necessary to protect the wider Laser Clinics network and the integrity of our brand.”
On the call with Taylor, Bahmanpour asked what would happen about pay, and she suggested it was Frykberg’s responsibility. She claims she was personally assured that “wages and accrued annual leave would be protected following the closure”.
That did not happen.
On the afternoon of August 16, staff received an email from Laser Clinics Australia’s senior people business partner offering access to its employee assistance programme (EAP).
Bahmanpour claims that promise was hollow. “None of us have received any call or email for support; they have disappeared completely.”
The next day, Bahmanpour could remotely access the payroll system, so she logged the final pay owed to her and staff. This followed standard company procedure, which saw wages paid by LCNZ Ponsonby Pty Ltd, a company directed by Frykberg, but with shareholdings split evenly between LCNZ Operations Pty Limited and Frykberg’s company Hoje Limited.
However, ongoing disagreement between the parties means that three months on from the closure, Bahmanpour and her colleagues haven’t received a cent. The Herald understands outstanding wages are in the vicinity of $30,000.
A spokesperson for Laser Clinics told the Herald all Laser Clinics in New Zealand operate under a 50-50 ownership model. “Under this model, the franchisee is the employer of clinic staff and solely responsible for employees’ entitlements and obligations.”
It is Frykberg’s view, however, that the Ponsonby clinic “was a victim of the franchise business model”. He claims his clinic was “doomed from the start to be unsustainable for the financial demands the franchise agreement demanded”.
In an August 8 email, Frykberg told Laser Clinics he’d need financial assistance to meet final payroll payments, saying “revenue is pretty much non-existent”.
In response, Laser Clinics asked for details of outstanding financials, saying “it is up to you as the director to manage through to close”.
On August 27, Frykberg wrote in an email to Laser Clinics’ lawyers, the law firm Wynn Williams, outlining the dire financial situation.
“LCNZ Ponsonby Pty Limited has no revenue, LCNZ Ponsonby Pty Limited has no cash flow, LCNZ Ponsonby has no funds. This position is a direct consequence of the actions or lack of by your client.”
In response, lawyers restated to Frykberg: “You are obliged to pay the franchisee’s staff whether or not the franchisee is solvent (which it is not).”
The contractual quagmire has greatly distressed Bahmanpour, who had tried to act as a staff advocate before the closure.
In May, she was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer and had been managing her medical treatment around her work schedule, attending hospital visits in the morning before working full days.
In July, Bahmanpour wrote to the head office to express concerns, detailing that the clinic was short-staffed and advised she would need time off to recuperate after planned surgery. She asked if there was a plan to fill these staffing gaps or “if the clinic will be closing earlier than planned”.
Her concerns went unaddressed.
Bhamanpour’s surgery occurred three days after the clinic closure, and she came out of the procedure to an influx of panicked messages from other staff asking why they hadn’t received their last pay.
Having to deal with this situation and navigating an unexpected loss of income when she should have been prioritising her health has left Bahmanpour with the sense that her former employers “are not concerned at all with the employee’s situation and condition”.
Describing the back and forth between Frykberg and Laser Clinics, Bahmanpour said: “It is something like a war between them, but I have to pay the cost for them with my wages.”
On September 3, Bahmanpour and her colleagues went to the Employee Relations Authority about owed wages and requested a mediation. Again, both Frykberg and Laser Clinics blamed each other.
In October, Bahmanpour wrote directly to lawyers representing Laser Clinics, telling them: “The actions taken by LCA, including the sudden closure of the clinic without prior notice to staff, have placed my family and me under immense emotional and financial pressure – particularly as I continue to manage a life-threatening illness.”
ERA mediation attempts halted on October 23 when licensed insolvency practitioner Rodgers Reidy was appointed as liquidator of LCNZ Ponsonby Pty Limited, upon the petition of LCNZ Franchising Pty Limited.
Rodgers Reidy director Lynda Smart told the Herald the franchisor and franchisee were co-operating, but “it is too early in the liquidation process for us to be able to determine the likelihood of recoveries, and whether these will be sufficient to clear staff claims”.
Bahmanpour has been noted as a preferential creditor and advised by liquidators: “If we do find ourselves in a position where we are holding funds to allow us to distribute amongst the preferential creditors, we will be in touch at that time.”
A Laser Clinics spokesperson told the Herald they appreciated the uncertainty and hardship the closure of the clinic had caused staff.
“We are deeply concerned that some employees have not yet received their final entitlements and acknowledge the distress this has caused affected staff.”