She kept piling on new claims after the hearing. None of them stuck

A New Zealand disability support worker who refused the COVID-19 vaccine has lost every claim she brought against her former employer, with the Employment Relations Authority ruling on 1 May 2026 that Spectrum Care Limited did not breach its legal or contractual obligations.

In Kecer v Spectrum Care Limited [2026] NZERA 267, Authority Member Rachel Larmer worked through a sprawling list of claims that grew as the case wore on, and found, one after another, that none could succeed.

Luboslava Kecer worked as a Community Support Worker – Residential for Spectrum, a registered charity providing services to intellectually disabled people, from September 2018 until 21 December 2021. Her role involved providing general assistance, home management, care and support to clients in their private homes, as well as travelling with them in the community.

Then came the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021. Spectrum, a "certified provider" under the order, told staff that workers in care roles had to be vaccinated. Kecer declined. She wrote to Spectrum's executive board on 28 October 2021 raising safety concerns, questioning the vaccine's effectiveness and challenging whether the order applied to her role. She warned: "Should my choice [not to be vaccinated] not be respected, and you elect to disadvantage my employment by linking my employment with a participating in a trial for an experimental...

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