What's at stake: The Employment Relations Authority found in Pearson v Gulf Harbour Investments that even though there were mixed motives, the employer was able to prove the restructuring was predominantly driven by genuine business needs rather than underlying workplace conflicts.
Background: There is always a risk when undertaking a mixed motive redundancy that an employer will be found not to have acted fairly and reasonably. However, this case shows a mixed motive redundancy does not automatically mean that an employer has acted unjustifiably.
Main players: Heidi Pearson, Gulf Harbour Investments, Employment Relations Authority, Jennifer Mills.
Heidi Pearson was made redundant from Gulf Harbour Investments, the company operating the Gulf Harbour Marina at Whangaparaoa, north of Auckland, after just eight months.
Her newly-created role as finance and administration manager was to streamline and manage the marina’s day-to-day finance and
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Key points
What's at stake: The Employment Relations Authority found in Pearson v Gulf Harbour Investments that even though there were mixed motives, the employer was able to prove the restructuring was predominantly driven by genuine business needs rather than underlying workplace conflicts.
Background: There is always a risk when undertaking a mixed motive redundancy that an employer will be found not to have acted fairly and reasonably. However, this case shows a mixed motive redundancy does not automatically mean that an employer has acted unjustifiably.
Main players: Heidi Pearson, Gulf Harbour Investments, Employment Relations Authority, Jennifer Mills.
