$6000 payout for sacked dairy worker

A worker who wore till receipts as scarves and once left a threatening note on a banoffee pie has been awarded $6000 for unjustifiable dismissal.

Brodie Halliday started work at the Regent Night ‘n Day Foodstore, in Dunedin’s student quarter, in November 2015. He was sacked 10 months later. His employer, Lane Group Ltd, said Halliday had breached a number of rules, processes and performance work requirements.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) heard that Halliday was trained in sandwich making after expressing an interest in learning all aspects of the job, but conceded he was not good at food preparation as he was a perfectionist.

Several meetings were held about his work performance, including one about a threatening message left on a banoffee pie. A store manager found the note which said ‘I swear to God that if you throw this out I will open my jaw and swallow you like a snake’.

Other concerns about Halliday included sitting on a stool behind the counter, loitering on premises after shift and wearing till slips as a scarf and hat while on shift. In its decision, the ERA found that while there was some basis for issues raised by Halliday’s employer, some of the reasons for his dismissal had not been put to him adequately.

The job was Halliday’s first of a permanent nature and the dismissal had a ‘‘reasonably significant impact’’ on him, the decision said. Lane Group was ordered to pay a reimbursement of lost wages for a period of eight weeks.