KEY POINTS:
A man who was wrongfully sacked has been awarded $3500 in compensation - but has to repay $4635 to cover personal costs charged to his former employer, mostly for music downloads.
Despite winning his case, Martyn Williams also owes $3000 to $4000 in legal fees on top of what he owes Auckland-based Camira Furniture.
The Employment Relations Authority decision, released yesterday, said Mr Williams was not specifically warned his job was at risk during meetings with his boss before he was fired, which denied him a proper chance to make amends.
Camira Furniture director Paul Barmes hired Mr Williams in April 2005, but fired him in August 2005 for not fostering good relationships with clients and failing to generate business. Mr Williams had also crashed the company car, which was then impounded, and his personal use of the internet had cost the company $4500. Further personal expenses amounted to $135.
His lawyer, Clive Bennett, said his client believed Camira Furniture did not have an internet policy, and had been surprised when the company's internet bill came through. Mr Williams was also not aware the company had a capped internet service.
Studies worldwide suggest employees spend about a fifth of their time at work engaging in personal activities, mostly through the internet.
Mr Bennett said his client expected to have to repay the personal expenses, but had hoped the amount awarded from winning the case would have outweighed those costs.
But Mr Williams lost credibility by misleading the authority into thinking he had been "largely unemployed" for the four months after being fired, when in fact he had secured a new job before he was sacked.
"I finally got back on my feet at the end of that year on 19 December when I managed to get fulltime employment."
He claimed to have worked part-time in an art gallery from mid-September to late October, earning about $3200, but in fact had had a fixed-term contract from August 20 to November 20, earning $6120.
"At the time of dismissal Mr Williams had already entered into a new fixed-term contract, the terms of which make it impossible for him to have continued to work for the respondent," the authority decision said.
Mr Bennett said there were no plans at this stage to appeal the decision or apply for costs.
"Unfortunately what will count against him was [that] there was an element of him not giving the authority the correct impression about how long he was unemployed. I didn't know anything about it. It was a bit of a bombshell ... I think [the authority] lost quite a lot of sympathy for him."
Mr Williams had initially sought $15,000 in lost wages and $12,000 for humiliation.
He was awarded $5000 for hurt and humiliation, but that was reduced to $3500 because he contributed to losing his job.
A Camira Furniture employee said Mr Barmes was overseas and declined to comment.
THE CASE
* Camira Furniture fired salesman Martyn Williams four months after he started work in April 2005. The Employment Authority Relations ruled Mr Williams was unjustifiably dismissed and awarded him $3500, but ordered him to pay $4635 in personal costs he had charged the company, mostly in music downloads
* He also faces a legal bill of $3000 to $4000
