Harassing of worker costs banker $99k

A married ASB bank manager dismissed after messaging “hey sxy” to a staff member had his $110,000 compensation cut to $11,000 because of his behaviour.

Andre Nel had worked at ASB for 18 years and was a senior commercial manager when he was fired last October for serious misconduct.

He took a claim of unjustified dismissal to the Employment Relations Authority saying ASB had breached its obligations towards him.

The woman, Ms A, began working directly for Nel in September 2015 and said they had a good working relationship. Both were married at the time.

Ms A told the authority Nel had often made personal comments including ones on her appearance. He referred to her as “sweetheart” and said she was “stunning”.

This continued for the next few months and on September 4, 2015, Nel messaged her on Facebook saying he loved her.

“Hey Sxy, just want to get

Hey Sxy, just want to get the elephant out of the room . . . I’m head over heels for you. Text message by Andre Nel

the elephant out of the room . . . I’m head over heels for you and have been since the first time I saw you . . . “Oh f *** this is just crazy but need to get it off of my chest as it’s been killing me! Sorry for spilling my guts! I know you don’t care but at least I can move on now.”

Ms A responded that she saw him only as a good friend and hoped it would not affect their working relationship.

She also said she felt uncomfortable and did not want to speak about it again.

But she said Nel continued to pursue her and other members of staff were brought in.

ASB managers said they were aware of at least three other employees with concerns about Nel’s behaviour.

After an investigation, the bank dismissed Nel.

The authority ruled that ASB had not breached its duty of good faith to Nel, but said it had unjustifiably dismissed him. It ordered the bank to pay lost wages of $95,455.68 and $15,000 compensation for hurt and humiliation, but cut the amount by 90 per cent to $11,000 because it said his behaviour had contributed to the outcome.

The Andre Nel in this case should not be confused with a current ASB employee of the same name.