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An experienced marketer who was fired just three days from her job for not “getting started” received $ 15,774 from the Labor Relations Authority.
Roxanne Berea won her wrongful termination claim against Christchurch-based baby formula maker Best Health Foods after the company tried to fire her on the 90-day trial, without proper induction.
The day before starting work in January this year, Berea asked Best Health Foods CEO James Gu what his expectations were, but he never responded.
Berea signed her contract in mid-January and began her job soon after. His contract mentioned that his employment was subject to a 90-day trial period, during which his employment could be terminated with a three-day notice.
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Berea started her new job on January 17 and on her first day she helped make a presentation for a Chinese delegation she was supposed to visit. But later he learned that it had been postponed.
On her second day, Berea said she was asked to write content for the Best Health Foods website, but she had IT issues.
Vadim Ginzburg / 123rf
Christchurch-based baby formula maker Best Health Foods must pay former employee Roxanne Berea $ 12,000 in humiliation compensation and $ 3,774 in lost wages following her wrongful termination (file photo).
Berea said again that she asked Gu for a briefing on what to expect, but he told her to check online what other companies were doing and to do something similar.
On her third and final day on the job, Berea was told that her job was “basic” and that she had until the end of the day to produce better content.
But at 4.30pm that day they told Berea they no longer needed her.
Gu said he fired her under the 90-day trial because he expected her to “get started” when she started and was not impressed by her IT and writing skills.
Shortly after, Gu sent him an email to say that he would pay him for the next three days and that he did not need to work.
But the authority determined that the 90-day trial period was invalid and Berea was unjustifiably fired because she was never offered the three-day notice period that Best Health Foods was contractually obligated to give her.
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The Labor Relations Authority found that Best Health Foods Limited “overreacted” in its decision to fire Roxanne Berea.
The authority said that due to her “extremely short” employment, Berea was not given enough time or help to demonstrate her skill level.
“The manner of the dismissal was abrupt and there was no practical opportunity for Ms. Berea to obtain representation or participate in the decision … No fair and reasonable employer could have concluded that summary dismissal on performance grounds was justified in these circumstances.” .
“The hasty decision to fire in context was a totally disproportionate response and any reasonable employer would have easily perceived that he had overreacted,” the authority said.
As a result, the authority ordered Best Health Foods Limited to pay Berea $ 12,000 in humiliation compensation and $ 3,774 in lost wages.
