A Palmerston woman is to get her job back, about three years of lost wages and $4000 in compensation after the Employment Court found she was unjustifiably dismissed from Oceana Gold Ltd.
Tracey Jinkinson was made redundant from Oceana Gold, which operates a gold mine at Macraes, in 2006 after her position as a grade controller was disestablished and she was not appointed to one of the new mine technician positions created in place of her previous job.
The "second judgement" by Employment Court Judge Tony Couch, released this month, overturned an earlier decision by the Employment Relations Authority that Ms Jinkinson's dismissal was justified and that Oceana Gold did not breach its good faith obligations.
However, the authority's decision that she was unjustifiably disadvantaged by the manner of her dismissal remained effective, as did its order for her to be paid $2000 in compensation, he said.
Judge Couch said he found the decision to dismiss Ms Jinkinson was "not what a fair and reasonable employer would have done" in all the circumstances.
The conclusion extended to the decision not to appoint her to the position of mine technician and to the "seriously deficient selection process" adopted by Oceana Gold.
"Overall, I find that the process of selection adopted by Oceana Gold was seriously flawed and fundamentally unfair."
The mine technician position was not significantly different from the grade control position she held so her position was "not genuinely redundant", he found.
Judge Couch ordered Oceana Gold to reinstate Ms Jinkinson to a position of level two mine technician and to reimburse her for the wages lost since her dismissal, less three months' wages.
Interest of 5% was to be paid on 18 months of those wages, he said.
He also ordered the company to pay $4000 for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to her feelings arising from her unjustifiable dismissal.
