An accountant sacked for sending "confrontational" emails which included words bolded, in capital letters and in red text has been compensated by a New Zealand tribunal.
Vicki Walker from Auckland was awarded $13,848 for unfair dismissal after she was sacked for sending the allegedly offensive emails.
Her employer Procare told the Employment Relations Authority that Walker — who was fired in December 2007 after two years with the company — had caused tension in the workplace by using block capitals, bold typeface and red text in her emails.
According to the New Zealand Herald, an email advising Walker's team how to fill out staff claim forms specifies a time and date highlighted in bold red along with a sentence written in capitals and highlighted in bold blue.
It reads: "To ensure your staff claim is processed and paid, please do follow the below checklist."
Walker has used the case to highlight the need for greater protection for white-collar workers from the "mental stresses" involved in a dispute with a big corporate employer.
"I am a single woman with a mortgage, and I had to re-mortgage my home and borrow money from my sister to make it through," she said.
"They nearly ruined my life."
Walker plans to lodge an appeal for further compensation.
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