A national support organisation has blocked an attempt by two dismissed refuge workers to hold it legally responsible for their job losses.
The Employment Court has overturned an earlier Employment Relations Authority order that joined the National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges to a personal grievance claim filed by Jan Frances Love and Judith Crestani.
Love, who was employed by the refuge as an NGO co-ordinator, and Crestani, an agency co-ordinator, were both dismissed from their roles at Whare Manaaki Incorporated in October 2024 for “serious misconduct”. The refuge later went into voluntary liquidation on March 31, 2025.
The workers argued that an investigation by the national collective into the independent refuge effectively triggered the employment process that resulted in their sackings.
However, Judge M S King ruled that the national collective could not be held liable as a controlling third party because its actions were too remote from the final decision to fire the women.
