A New Zealand start-up CEO has been awarded more than $186,000 after her unjustified dismissal
The former chief executive of a start-up firm in Wellington has been awarded more than $186,000 after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) rejected serious misconduct allegations made against her.
The ERA found that the dismissal of former Sleaktek CEO Juliet Hull was unjustified, ruling that the redundancy process was procedurally and substantively deficient.
"Ms Hull did not have a real opportunity to respond to Sleaktek's concerns, and the responses she did provide were not genuinely considered by Sleaktek," the ERA said.
"This evidence also fundamentally undermines any suggestion that the disestablishment of Ms Hull's position and her resulting dismissal was for genuine business-related reasons."
Hull joined Wellington-registered start-up Sleaktek as its chief executive in late 2022, initially on a $140,000 salary before renegotiating to $200,000.
For more than a year, Hull used her networks to raise $100,000 in funding that allowed salary payments to begin in May 2023, and Sleaktek secured positive independent laboratory testing results for its coating product by early 2024.
The relationship between Hull and sole director, Robert Lawrence, began to deteriorate in March 2024 when the latter criticised Hull in front of colleagues and the company's legal counsel at a meeting.
Lawrence said he did not trust Hull and advocated that his wife take...
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