The owner of the Bealey Hotel has been ordered by the Employment Court to pay a long-serving former employee $3000 damages for what amounted to constructive dismissal.
Employment Court documents show the restaurant employee, Frances Newman, had threatened to "bad mouth" the owners of the hotel, but her boss Debbie Decker got in first, circulating an email throughout the Arthur's Pass and Otira communities slating Mrs Newman's work ethic.
Mrs Newman, a pensioner, had worked at the Bealey for 20 years, three of those for the Deckers. She had informed her new boss that she would be retiring as soon as she had saved enough money to buy a new car. She later purchased a car and did not mention retirement again.
Annoyed because she was receiving reports of Mrs Newman being rude and declining to serve customers, Ms Decker asked her when she was actually going to retire, saying she obviously did not like serving people.
Mrs Newman swore and stormed out, telling the assistant manager on the way that she had been fired.