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An Employment Court ruling that awarded a senior executive more than $27,000 in compensation and lost wages after he was fired for sending text messages to a junior staff member could reflect on the safety of young women at work, a Northland businessman said.
Steve Bowling, owner of Big Kahuna Holdings, is disappointed at the court's ruling after his company was ordered to pay former employee and group general manager Brendon Booth $10,000 in compensation plus a further $17,080 in lost wages.
Mr Booth was fired in May 2013 after he sent a series of text messages to a female employee which the company viewed as inappropriate.
He challenged his dismissal in the Employment Relations Authority but lost and he then appealed to the Employment Court.
In May 2012, Mr Booth began a relationship with Mr Bowling's daughter who was 17 years his junior and who also worked at the company.
She moved in with him at Ngunguru. The woman found other employment but introduced Mr Booth to one of her friends who had just finished tertiary study and was looking for work. The friend was hired by Big Kahuna and reported directly to Mr Booth.
The three spent time together at Mr Booth's home. On one occasion the friend stayed the night as she had drunk too much to drive home.
About a year later, when Mr Booth's partner moved out and ended the relationship, a series of inappropriate text messages between him and the other woman (her friend) led to his dismissal.
In these messages he asked that woman to come to his place and console him as he needed a friend after the breakup. She turned him down, saying she felt uncomfortable. Once the texts became known in the workplace, Mr Bowling went to his house and handed him a suspension letter. The letter set out allegations of serious misconduct.
Judge Christina Inglis said the dismissal process was flawed as Mr Bowling was ill-equipped to conduct the investigative and disciplinary process given the strong views he held about the relationship.
"This is reflected in the failure to, for example, obtain a statement from [the second woman] at an earlier stage, to ask additional questions of her about the nature of her relationship with Booth and the context of the text message exchange, the pre-emptory manner in which the suspension was dealt with and the evidence relating to the jaundiced way in which Booth's responses were considered."
But Mr Bowling said the ruling has given him no confidence that in future he could take necessary disciplinary action against any employee for action he regarded as unacceptable behaviour towards a junior female employee.
"This is a very important decision that could well reflect adversely on the health and safety of young women employees within our industry, where most of the managerial positions are held by older men. This would be a shame," he said.