Pharmacy trainee asked to ‘get over it’ wins $24,000

A trainee pharmacy technician who resigned after her boss got tired of her personal life affecting her work life has won $24,000.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) said it was unjustified constructive dismissal.

Tracey Olsen worked for Peninsula Health trading as Akaroa Pharmacy and Gift Shop. A month into her new job, she experienced a ‘‘traumatic’’ personal event.

She took time off work after the incident, but upon her return, her boss, Garry Benson, asked when she would be over it and the grief for her mother’s death.

Olsen said the incident made her want to focus on her job for stability. But instead her boss became hostile and critical towards her and berated her in front of staff and customers.

She became increasingly nervous and anxious around him.

Benson said he was supportive of Olsen although there were a number of minor issues throughout the employment and she had not enrolled in a pharmacy technician course despite being asked about it on numerous occasions.

A month after the incident, Benson suddenly cut Olsen’s hours without consulting her.

At a meeting about the change of hours, Olsen said Benson ‘‘had a real go at her’’ and called her unprofessional. Benson told her he had called her previous employers, who said she had not done her job properly with them.

Olsen said she was left in tears and approached Benson’s wife, the co-director of the business, but he told her to stop crying and to only talk to him because he was in charge of staff.

The authority said it was likely that Benson had become somewhat tired of issues in Olsen’s personal life impacting on work.

‘‘An employer is of course able to raise concerns with an employee but this should be done in a way to ensure that the relationship is not damaged,’’ it said.

‘‘The way the concerns were raised and the very general nature of them meant Ms Olsen was not able to respond to them.’’

The authority said Peninsula Health breached its obligations of good faith by failing to be responsive and communicative.

Olsen resigned because she felt she had no other choice: ‘‘To me the whole thing was hopeless.’’

Olsen has been awarded $9620 in lost wages and $15,000 in compensation for the stress she endured.