When Aaron Wallace asked his manager for two days off to support his wife through a miscarriage that required surgery, the response stopped him cold. "Why do you need two days? You're not the mother." Those words, attributed to store manager Sok Heang (Irrene) Toun, speak to the atmosphere that eventually pushed two kitchen professionals out of their jobs at a popular Auckland waterfront eatery and into the Employment Relations Authority.
Wallace and his wife Phonesavanh worked together at Buoy Cafe, he as head chef and she as sous chef. The cafe is owned by Tang & Sons Ltd (TSL), whose director, Sikuong Khammy, served as general manager. Khammy's wife, Toun, held the role of store manager, with authority to make decisions on the spot. Wallace's responsibility was to run the kitchen and refer decisions to management when required.
Friction between Wallace and Toun had been building well before things came to a head. The earliest documented incident dates to July 2023, when Wallace emailed Khammy to report that Toun had struck him hard on the back with an open hand during a disagreement about whether food-soiled cardboard pizza boxes belonged in the recycling or the general rubbish. He said she hit him twice more after that. Toun's account differed. She described her actions as "only tapping your back."
The miscarriage occurred in April 2024, and with his wife facing surgery, Wallace requested two days of leave. Toun later told the authority she had no memory of questioning why he needed the time, while acknowledging she "would not say it is not true," though she added she did not think she would have made such a remark.
Tensions escalated sharply while Khammy was travelling overseas in late May and early June 2024. Wallace sent emails complaining that Toun was interfering with supplier orders and had altered his Anzac Day pay so he did not receive time-and-a-half. Text exchanges between the two grew increasingly heated. Toun told him not to contact Khammy unnecessarily, asserted her authority as his manager, and instructed him not to dispose of food without first setting it aside for her. Wallace pushed back, telling her she was failing to communicate with him and undermining his role.
On the day Khammy returned from overseas, Wallace sent an email saying he would not work the coming weekend, citing bullying by Toun that he said had left him with severe anxiety and stress, and requesting an urgent meeting. Khammy's reply did little to address the dispute. He told Wallace that, as far as he knew, the situation was the reverse of what Wallace was claiming, and suggested that if Wallace wanted the weekend off to look for a new job, that was approved.
Over that same weekend, Khammy spoke with other staff members and later gathered signed statements describing Wallace as grumpy, foul-mouthed, misleading to staff, and careless with food records. Khammy then emailed Wallace to terminate his employment, effective immediately. The dismissal letter set out a series of allegations, including misleading staff, encouraging colleagues to resign, falsely accusing Toun of bullying, improperly discarding food, failing to engage with Toun on supplier pricing, and not following her directions to maintain a healthy working environment.
Just three minutes after sending that email, Khammy contacted Phonesavanh to summon her to a meeting the following Monday. She replied that she was not rostered until Tuesday and offered to meet during her scheduled working hours. Through a series of emails that Sunday evening, she asked what the meeting was about. Khammy's response was direct: "I am letting you go and pay you your 2-week notice. I was going to tell you in person, but here we are."
The written dismissal letter sent to her listed several reasons, including failing to report to Toun that her husband had thrown away good food, not checking cabinet food that had become old and stale, colluding with Wallace "to cause trouble at work and pressure other staff members to leave," refusing to follow instructions, and being absent for three consecutive working days without notifying her employer.
TSL maintained that Wallace's dismissal was justified by "repeated breaches of contractual obligations and the need to maintain operational stability." The company said his bullying allegations against Toun had been investigated, with staff testimony confirming that Wallace had "contributed to a toxic work environment through aggressive behaviour." It also argued he had breached his contractual obligations by declining to work the weekend of 15 and 16 June without prior approval.
Authority member Robin Arthur was not persuaded. Arthur found that Khammy had not adequately investigated Wallace's bullying complaint and appeared to have accepted Toun's version of events without sufficient scrutiny. The claims about Wallace discarding usable food or mishandling supplier pricing had likewise not been examined with any rigour. While Wallace acknowledged swearing out of frustration on occasion, he denied abusing staff or throwing items, and Arthur found he had not been given specific examples of the allegations or any meaningful opportunity to respond before being dismissed.
Arthur found that TSL had failed to act in good faith, pointing in particular to Khammy's suggestion that Wallace use the weekend to look for a new job rather than making any genuine effort to resolve the conflict. The financial consequences for the couple were serious. Losing both incomes at the same time meant they could no longer pay their rent, forcing them to move into Wallace's parents' home and borrow money from family members to cover living costs.
On the dismissal of Phonesavanh, Arthur was unsparing. "The 'process' TSL followed in dismissing her was not merely flawed; it was non-existent. Mrs Wallace was really dismissed because of the views Mr Khammy and Ms Toun had formed about her husband, not any wrongdoing by her in her role as sous chef."
TSL was ordered to pay Wallace $40,000 in lost wages and $18,000 in compensation. His wife was awarded $19,448 in lost wages and a further $18,000 in compensation.
Speaking through his lawyer Alex Kersjes, Wallace said having the case resolved was "the best news." "It feels amazing to finally receive justice for the way we were treated. It's hard to put into words the impact this has had and how much this impact means."
Khammy said he was unable to comment, as the matter was subject to appeal.
