How an informal performance meeting became the centrepiece of a failed ERA claim
A Christchurch employer successfully defended claims of sexual harassment, bullying, and constructive dismissal in a ruling with direct lessons for HR managers.
In a determination dated 20 March 2026, the Employment Relations Authority dismissed all personal grievance claims brought by Liye (Lily) Zhu against her former employer, The Diligent Company Limited, trading as The Vaping Warehouse, and its director and shareholders.
Ms Zhu worked as a Sales Assistant at the Ferry Road store in Christchurch from 26 August 2023 until 15 March 2024. Her claims covered breach of employment agreement, good faith obligations, workplace bullying, discrimination, sexual harassment, unjustified disadvantage, adverse conduct for a prohibited health and safety reason, and constructive dismissal.
At the heart of the case was a disagreement about what actually happened day to day in a small, quiet retail store. Member Rachel Larmer found that Ms Zhu was an unreliable narrator who "presented her subjected thoughts and feelings as if they were objective facts."
On the sexual harassment claim, Ms Zhu alleged she had been forced to use what she termed "sexual marketing" outside the newly opened Papanui Road store. The Authority found that Ms Zhu admitted during proceedings that she had invented the term herself after her employment ended. What actually occurred was standard promotional activity, with staff standing...
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