A retail worker diagnosed with breast cancer has been awarded $8,000 in compensation after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found her employer failed to adequately address her discomfort at being rostered in the lingerie department.
The authority ruled in the case that while the dismissal was justified, the company had disadvantaged the worker, identified only as OJX, by not doing enough to explore her concerns or keep her informed about why moving her out of the lingerie section was proving difficult.
OJX began working as a sales assistant for the retail company, identified only as AVJ, in early 2021. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2023 and soon after asked to be moved away from the lingerie department, where she was rostered one day a week and expected to perform bra fittings.
The nature of that work, including fitting bras and working among lingerie displays, became deeply distressing for her following her diagnosis, according to the ERA's ruling.
The regional manager's notes recorded OJX describing the lingerie area as "a trigger" for her, while the front counter remained "her happy place."
Her employer acknowledged her concerns and, following a meeting in January 2024, assured her union representative that it would move her "as soon as the opportunity arises."
That opportunity, however, never formally materialised.
OJX spent February and March 2024 waiting for a resolution that did not come, with the employer...
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