Firm ordered to pay former worker $16,000

An insurance firm has been ordered to pay a former worker $16,000 for lost wages, distress and anxiety, after the woman left because of "denigration and verbal abuse" from her boss.

The Employment Relations Authority has found that Suzanne Ferrar-Jones, who worked at Ascot Insurance Brokers in Whangarei for nearly two years, was constructively dismissed when she resigned in March last year.

Mrs Ferrar-Jones has taken the company to court alleging that Ascot failed to protect her from bullying and harassment from her boss Carol McGonagle, who was also a director of the company.

Authority member Alastair Dumbleton, in his decision released this week, said it was unreasonable to call Mrs McGonagle's behaviour bullying, intimidation or harassment.

However, Mr Dumbleton said Mrs Ferrar-Jones was subjected to "sarcasm, anger, irrational conduct, shouting, sneering, swearing, denigration and other similar verbal abuse" from her boss.

He found this forced Mrs Ferrar-Jones to leave and amounted to constructive dismissal. Ascot was ordered to pay Mrs Ferrar-Jones $7500 for lost wages and $8500 for general distress and anxiety accompanying the unjustified dismissal.

"In resolving the problem in a practical or tangible way I have regarded the dismissal as the culmination of earlier unreasonable behaviour carried on by the employer over a period of time ..." Mr Dumbleton said.

"So that in assessing monetary remedies I have looked at the harm suffered by Mrs Ferrar-Jones as a consequence of the dismissal, rather than the behaviour leading up to it."

Ascot director Bill Buckley said the company would not appeal the decision.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)