A Queenstown family have won a battle to prove that their Swedish au pair's claims of being "dumped" at an airport in Samoa with $20 for "wrecking their holiday" did not stack up.
Amanda Akeson went to the Employment Relations Authority last year, claiming she had been left at Samoa's airport by Janine and Hamish Learmonth to "fend for herself" with only $20.
The Learmonths claimed the nanny refused to work once they arrived at their Pacific resort, when she should have been looking after their children.
The ERA ruled in her favour and ordered her employers, Janine and Hamish Learmonth, to pay her $1189.99 in unpaid wages and holiday pay.
But the Learmonths challenged the decision as they had not had a chance to properly argue their case - and yesterday the ERA reversed its decision. However, the au pair returned to Sweden while the appeal was being heard.