Luxury lodge manager wins payout
Luxury resort company Kinloch Lodge has been ordered to pay a former manager more than $45,000 for unjustified dismissal.
Joanna Weir told the Employment Relations Authority she was made redundant by Kinloch Lodge Holdings three months after it created her job..
Weir worked for two of Kinloch Lodge’s luxury resorts; Treetops Lodge and Estates in Rotorua, and The Kinloch Club in Taupo.
She applied for the job of sales manager at both resorts, but started part-time work at Treetops Lodge in October 2015 while The Kinloch Club was still under construction.
A month after she started at Treetops Lodge Kinloch Holdings director, John Sax raised concerns about low booking rates.
He initially rejected Weir’s marketing suggestions to help drive positive guest feedback but eventually agreed to them.
Sax also approved marketing work by an external contractor, without Weir’s knowledge.
Weir said she understood sales decisions were her responsibility.
Three months after starting at Treetops Lodge and a month at the The Kinloch Club, Sax emailed Weir advising her that he had undertaken a ‘‘detailed review’’ of her role and had determined that due to a lack of forward bookings for both lodges, retaining her position was not economical.
Weir’s lawyer wrote to Sax asking for information about the restructuring process, but he did not respond.
Weir said in the short time she had worked for Treetops, she had increased occupancy rates by 60 per cent.
Given the Kinloch Club had been open only a month it was premature to consider disestablishing her role.
The authority ruled that Kinloch Lodge had breached its statutory obligation of good faith.
Authority representative Vicki Campbell said Sax claimed occupancy rates for Treetops were at their lowest, despite Weir’s sales and marketing achievements.
Campbell said the authority received no evidence from Kinloch Holdings showing its financial position had deteriorated while Weir was employed.
Kinloch Holdings was ordered to pay Weir $25,691.66 in lost remuneration with interest of five per cent until paid in full and $20,000 for humiliation and distress.
Weir will also receive more than $1500 in travel, software and laptop repair expenses that Kinloch failed to reimburse during her employment.