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A waitress has been awarded more than $22,000 after the Auckland cafe she worked at sacked her to prevent an application for maternity leave and to cover the lack of tax paid on her wages.
Nai-Tsu Chiu worked at the New Deli & Cafe in Albany from February 2007.
In late August 2007 Mrs Chiu discovered she was pregnant and informed her employer Lina Megawaty. Shortly after, Mrs Chiu complained her hours had been reduced and asked that the cafe not discriminate against her because of the pregnancy, inviting her employer to a mediation with the Department of Labour.
Two days later Mrs Chiu was sacked, the cafe saying she had not shown proof of her eligibility to work in New Zealand and she could have her job back if this was provided within eight days.
Mrs Chiu, who was born in Taiwan but held a New Zealand passport and work permit, contacted the Employment Relations Authority.
She told the authority her pay had always been done in cash and it was her belief that the cafe did not want her lodging a maternity leave application with the Inland Revenue Department as it would have led to the IRD requesting pay information and the cafe had not been forwarding PAYE tax.
"By dismissing me on the spot the (cafe) tried to prevent me applying for maternity leave (which) would result in exposure of New Deli & Cafe Ltd's failure to comply with their tax obligation," Mrs Chiu said.
The cafe claimed Mrs Chiu had not been employed until the end of July, meaning she had only worked for three weeks and would not have been eligible for maternity leave.
Both sides provided evidence in the form of customers, past and present cafe employees, phone and pay records in their attempts to prove their case.
The dispute was swayed in Mrs Chiu's favour when she produced her cell phone which showed correspondence with Ms Megawaty prior to July 2007.
A second company director John White claimed it was possible to tamper with cell phones to change information but Telecom records obtained by the authority corroborated Mrs Chiu's story.
The authority noted Mr White had been very forthcoming in providing other materials in support of his claims.
"It seems incongruous that he did not offer the Telecom records, unless there was something in them he did not want the authority to see."
The authority found Mrs Chiu was owed $1384 holiday pay, $8262 in lost wages, and $4619 as compensation for not being able to apply for maternity leave.
It also found Mrs Chiu suffered "substantial emotional harm" through her unjustified dismissal and this was worsened by her employers' "persisting with false evidence".
"At meetings she has had to experience the further humiliation of being called to her face a liar and a fraud, and a fabricator of evidence. She has heard and seen her husband's reputation attacked by Mr White in particular, with lurid insinuations of his having underworld connections and even some association with people smugglers."
The cafe was ordered to pay an additional $8000 compensation for hurt feelings, humiliation and distress.
- NZPA
