A woman claims she was forced to leave her job after bosses discovered she was selling videos of herself on an adult website.
Demi Hunziker (Ngāpuhi) spent nearly three months working as an operations coordinator for Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust, an iwi organisation based in Warkworth, before she says she was asked to leave due to her OnlyFans account.
The 28-year-old joined OnlyFans - an adult website which users pay a subscription to access - when she was made redundant from her flight attendant job last year as Covid-19 wreaked havoc on the travel industry.
"I was on the wage subsidy and $470 a week just wasn't enough. I had to figure out another way to supplement my income," she told the Herald.
In her first week on OnlyFans, Hunziker made up to $10,000 and was able pay off some debt and help her family through a difficult time, on top of paying her weekly bills.
Having already been a stripper in the past, OnlyFans was a safer environment for her.
"It's all online. I didn't have to see anyone, nobody could touch me, I could do it on my own terms."
OnlyFans requires a subscription fee which is paid to the content creator. Without it, the content, and in Hunziker's case, is completely inaccessible or viewable.
The decision to create adult content came easy, Hunziker said, simply because it has never been a derogatory topic for her, and for some Māori, sexuality in te ao Māori is fully embraced.
But Hunziker yearned to give back to a Māori community-based organisation in Auckland. She said after spending half of her life in Tāmaki Makaurau, it was only right to "give back to a local iwi".
"The salary they [Ngāti Manuhiri] offered me was awesome. When I got a job with this iwi I thought 'I can finally hang [OnlyFans] up'."
But Hunziker said there was friction between herself and management in her new role with Ngāti Manuhiri because she was still waiting for a contract and claims her salary was reduced.
After asking for paperwork "several times", Hunziker said it got to a point where she was "walking on eggshells".
When a meeting with management was finally called, Hunziker prepared herself to finally sign her contract.
Instead, she alleged she was confronted about her "other mahi" on OnlyFans and was asked to leave.
"In my desperation and pure aroha for that place, I was pretty much pleading for my job.
"I gave them a big Māori speech about how much I loved working there but then was told that they'd prefer if I resigned."
Hunziker has since filed a personal grievance, alleging unjustified dismissal and unjustified disadvantage while she was at work before that.
"Ms Hunziker's employer was initially open to her remaining in the role with the Trust if she resigned from her part-time job, when Ms Hunziker agreed to do so [one of the bosses] advised her, 'all things considered, it's probably better if you did leave'," a lawyer's letter sent to Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust seen by the Herald on Sunday says.
"Following this meeting, our client was left shocked and distressed. Although your words clearly dismissed her, given other comments that you made, such as 'we don't want to lay you off because it's not a good look', our client believed you required her to tender her resignation. Given this, our client tendered her resignation."
While she couldn't comment specifically on Hunziker's case, employment lawyer Alice Anderson says an employer must follow a "fair" process before dismissing an employee. This includes: allowing an employee to get appropriate support; and a chance to respond to the allegations or concerns that have arisen, which should then be properly considered before any decisions are made.
"Even if we look at the issue through a kaupapa Māori lens, it is important that fair processes are followed when making decisions as the process itself is seen as an inherent good in te ao Māori and is often just as important as the outcome that is reached.
"Employers should be looking to follow processes that are mana-enhancing for everyone involved, even when dealing with tricky issues."
Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers' Collective representative Talia Morrison told the Herald that stigma around sex in te ao Māori exists because of colonial and Christian influence.
"It's a real shame because before colonisation, Māori celebrated sexuality, so much that it can be seen in our carvings."
Morrison understands that there are several views on what sexual freedom should look like, but, "for me, it does not make sense to oppress our people with a foreign standard of living that goes against how our tūpuna lived before tauiwi [non-Māori] came to our shores".
"There are so many sex digital content makers out there that have a 'day job' because, frankly, sometimes you cannot make enough with a day job.
"Once people realise that sex workers or content makers are working as 'normal' people, then I think people can have better discussions around policy in the workplace and how sex work may affect the workplace.
"We do not [punish] people for watching porn, so why do we punish those who create it?"
The Herald contacted Ngāti Manuhiri's acting CEO for comment twice but the iwi organisation declined to comment.
"Being forced to resign from a job that you love hurts a lot. Especially even more when it comes from your own people," Hunziker said.
"I know I gave them the best that I could with what I could work with. I left with my head held high, and in my eyes, I did nothing wrong."
