A workplace chat app became the battleground for a dispute that ended in an ERA ruling
A Chinese national working at a Christchurch massage business has been awarded more than $8,500 after being threatened with physical violence by a colleague over a workplace chat app and then pressured into apologising for her role in the dispute.
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) issued its determination on 16 September 2026, ruling that the second employer had mishandled the masseuse's bullying complaint in a way that left her feeling unsafe and cost her rostered hours.
The first employer was also found to have underpaid the worker throughout her earlier employment.
The chain of events began on the evening of 6 November 2023, when the worker sent her manager a private message on WeChat raising concerns about a colleague's conduct at a nearby sushi shop.
Receiving no immediate reply, the worker escalated the matter to a WeChat work group that included the colleague in question.
The exchange deteriorated quickly. After both workers were removed from the group chat, the colleague sent the worker direct messages threatening to "slap [her] face twice", "punch [her] in the face" and "hit [her] immediately", adding that they did not care if those acts led to imprisonment.
The worker took the threats seriously and forwarded screenshots to the manager that same evening. By 9 November, she had been moved to a different store. An apparent apology from...
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