Auckland's Buoy Cafe has been the subject of an Employment Relations Authority dispute. Photo / Michael Craig
The head chef and sous chef of a popular cafe were suffering the unimaginable loss of their unborn baby.
With his wife needing surgery, Aaron Wallace asked his manager for two days off to support her when he was asked by his manager: “Why do you need two days? You’re not the mother.”
This was just one of many instances that contributed to an unworkable tension between the chefs at Auckland’s Buoy Cafe and their store manager, which ultimately saw the couple dismissed and prompted them to take their case to the Employment Relations Authority.
Wallace and his wife Phonesavanh worked together as head chef and sous chef at the waterfront eatery under general manager Sikuong Khammy and his wife, Sok Heang (Irrene) Toun, as store manager.
Khammy is the director of Tang & Sons Ltd (TSL), which owns the cafe.
Toun’s role in the cafe was to make decisions on the spot if necessary, while Wallace’s role was to manage the kitchen and report to the manager if any decisions needed to be made.
The first recorded issue between Wallace and Toun was an email from Wallace to Khammy in July 2023.
Wallace wrote that Toun had “smacked me on the back very hard with an open hand” during a discussion on why he had put some food-soiled cardboard pizza boxes in the general rubbish bin rather than the recycling. She then hit him two more times.
Toun disputed this, saying she was “only tapping your back”.
In April 2024, Wallace’s wife suffered a miscarriage, which required time off work and surgery.
He asked for two days off to be with his wife, which is when he claims Toun asked him: “Why do you need two days? You’re not the mother”.
Toun told the authority she did not remember making those comments and “would not say it is not true” but did not think she would have said that.
While Khammy was overseas in late May and early June 2024, conflict intensified between the pair.
Wallace emailed complaints that Toun was interfering with supplier orders and had altered his pay for Anzac Day so he did not receive time-and-a-half. Text messages between them show escalating frustration, with Toun telling him not to email Khammy unnecessarily, insisting he answer to her as manager, and directing him not to throw away food without setting it aside for her.
Wallace responded that she was not communicating with him and was undermining his role.
The day Khammy returned from overseas, Wallace emailed saying he would not work that weekend because of bullying by Toun, claiming he had severe anxiety and stress, and requested an urgent meeting.
Khammy responded that, to his knowledge, the situation was the opposite of what Wallace alleged, and suggested that if he wanted the weekend off to look for a new job, he approved.
Over that weekend, Khammy said he spoke with staff members and later obtained signed statements describing Wallace as grumpy, using bad language, misleading staff and mishandling food records.
Khammy then emailed Wallace terminating his employment effective immediately.
The dismissal letter cited allegations that Wallace had misled staff and encouraged resignations, falsely accused Toun of bullying, improperly discarded food, failed to engage with her about supplier pricing, and not followed her directions to maintain a healthy work environment.
Three minutes after dismissing Wallace, Khammy emailed his wife calling her to a meeting on the Monday afternoon.
She replied she was not rostered to work until Tuesday and was happy to meet during her working hours. In an exchange of emails throughout that Sunday evening she asked about the purpose of the requested meeting and Khammy responded: “I am letting you go and pay you your 2 week notice. I was going to tell you in person but here we are.”
In a letter sent to her, Khammy wrote that she was dismissed for not reporting to Toun that her husband “throw away good food”, for not checking cabinet food which had become old and stale, for colluding with Wallace “to cause trouble at work and pressure other staff members to leave”, for refusing to comply with instructions and for being absent from work for three consecutive working days without notifying the employer.
TSL said Wallace’s dismissal was justified to “repeated breaches of contractual obligations and the need to maintain operational stability”. It said his allegations that Toun had bullied him were investigated but “staff testimonies” confirmed Wallace had “contributed to a toxic work environment through aggressive behaviour”.
It said he had violated contractual obligations by deciding not to work on the weekend of June 15 and 16 without getting prior approval.
Authority member Robin Arthur found Khammy did not adequately investigate Wallace’s bullying complaint against Toun and appeared to simply accept his wife’s version of events without sufficient inquiry. Similarly, allegations that Wallace discarded “good” food or mishandled supplier pricing were not properly examined.
While Wallace admitted to sometimes swearing out of frustration, he denied directing abuse at staff or throwing items. Importantly, he was not given specific examples or a meaningful opportunity to respond before being dismissed.
Arthur found the employer failed to act in good faith, particularly when Khammy responded to Wallace’s stress complaint by suggesting he look for a new job rather than working to resolve the conflict.
This was compounded by the financial effects of both him and his wife losing their incomes at the same time. This resulted in the couple not being able to pay their rent on their flat so they had to move in with Wallace’s parents and borrow money for living costs from family members.
Arthur ruled TSL failed to establish it had fairly considered concerns raised by Wallace or had sufficiently investigated its own allegations about his conduct and his wife was unjustifiably dismissed.
“The ‘process’ TSL followed in dismissing her was not merely flawed; it was non-existent.
“Mrs Wallace was really dismissed because of the views Mr Khammy and Ms Toun had formed about her husband, not any wrongdoing by her in her role as sous chef.”
TSL was ordered to pay Wallace $40,000 for lost wages and $18,000 in compensation and his wife $19,448 in lost wages and $18,000 in compensation.
Through his lawyer Alex Kersjes, Wallace said having the case resolved was “the best news”.
“It feels amazing to finally receive justice for the way we were treated. It’s hard to put into words the impact this has had and how much this impact means.”
Khammy said he was unable to comment to NZME as the matter was subject to appeal.
Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.