Dismissal payment may not be made

The "humiliating" dismissal of a manager from a troubled Queenstown hotel has resulted in a $12,000 compensation order.

However, the complainant will likely be left empty-handed because the companies behind it are in receivership.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) decision on the man’s unjustified dismissal claim said he had been working as a restaurant manager at the Carlin Boutique Hotel for more than a year when he was offered a lower-paid "restaurant supervisor" role with fewer hours.

He told his manager informally he would accept the role if he had to, but in his formal, emailed response, told him he would get advice before deciding.

However, the hotel’s developer and part-owner, Kevin Carlin, emailed him to say the restaurant would soon close to external guests, and his contract could be affected.

That was followed some time later by another email from Mr Carlin, who told him he was being made redundant, with four weeks’ notice, for "financial" reasons.

In December, soon after an unsuccessful mediation meeting with the complainant and his advocate, Mr Carlin died unexpectedly.

In her decision, ERA member Antoinette Baker said the dismissal had been "sudden and unexpected", and there had been no "meaningful" consultation with the complainant about the impact on his role of changes to the restaurant’s operation.

"At best, there is the offer of a role on less pay and seniority, which was then somehow ignored in the two successive emails that ended with [the complainant’s] termination."

The complainant’s feeling he had been "got rid of" without a genuine reason was exacerbated after his sacking when he saw the hotel advertising a restaurant supervisor position that would report to a "restaurant manager".

"For an employee in a senior role, this would feel humiliating."

The man became stressed and "depressed" after his dismissal because of his own financial issues and those of other staff who were made redundant.

Ms Baker said legal counsel for the complainant’s employer, Carlin Hotel Property Management Ltd, had told her it would not defend the proceedings, but because it was in receivership, there was unlikely to be funds available for any payments she ordered.

However, she made orders for the company to pay the complainant $12,000 in compensation and costs of $2250.

The hotel, which opened in early 2022, continues to operate despite the entities behind it being placed in receivership in February with debts of about $45million.

The business is now for sale.