Manager blamed for being stripped of job

A Wellington strip club's bar manager made an error in judgment when he touched a female dancer's bottom and was responsible for his own firing, the Employment Relations Authority has found.

Douglas Prince claimed he was fired unfairly from the Mermaid Bar in Courtenay Place for touching the dancer's bottom.

He said the touching was an accident but later said he was trying to get her attention so he could put a bottle of whisky away in a safe where she was standing. He eventually acknowledged he had made an "error in judgment".

The dancer, Bridget Rennie, described the incident as an intentional grope and was so distressed that she reacted loudly, according to the authority's decision. With the help of a co-worker, she prepared a written statement for the club's owners.

"I [Bridget Rennie] have been working at Mermaids for the last couple of weeks and claim that on 11-5-05 at approximately 5.40am Doug grabbed my bum near the DJ box," she said in the statement.

"I let him know that it wasn't appropriate for a manager to be fondling the girls, and I wasn't going to accept this kind of behaviour."

Mr Prince apologised in writing, but Ms Rennie refused the apology.

The club's directors, John and Michael Chow, fired Mr Prince in June last year for serious misconduct.

Authority member Paul Stapp concluded on Wednesday that the Chows had jumped the gun by firing Mr Prince. They could have taken other measures, such as seeking counselling for the man, and should have followed appropriate procedures to deal with the misconduct claim.

"The respondent did not carry out a proper investigation to get a fair conclusion," Mr Stapp said. But he concluded that Mr Prince was responsible for his error in judgment for touching the dancer and was therefore 100 per cent responsible for his own firing.

Mr Stapp refused to award Mr Prince compensation but awarded him $1960 in costs and $70 in fees.

- NZPA