The Mt Maunganui store's former owner has been ordered to pay $16,932.

The former owner of Nosh Mt Maunganui will have to pay almost $17,000 to a teenage worker who was fired without any proof of misconduct.

Stacey Sissons, 19, worked in the delicatessen section at the Nosh store from January 2016 till November 2016. During her employment, the Nosh store was operated by Good Food Trading (GFT).

She was fired by co-director of GFT Joanne Blennerhassett​ after customer complaints about staff service, although none of these complaints directly addressed Sissons.

Sissons said the dismissal knocked her confidence as she went from living independently in her own flat to "pretty much struggling from day to day" without money for food or gas.

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GFT went into liquidation last month but the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) said Joanne's husband and co-director, Jamie Blennerhassett, was personally liable for Sissons' remedies.

In October 2016, the deli manager called her to a meeting about three customer emails concerning poor service.

Sissons wasn't shown these emails at the meeting but her manager said he would give her a good reference if she handed in a notice of resignation.

That evening, Sissons prepared a resignation letter.

But after she showed it to her stepfather, Steven Beets, he arranged for another meeting with Sissons, himself and the deli manager.

At this meeting the manager showed them the three emails, which contained complaints about four staff.

One complaint was the staff members talked too much and took too long to serve the food, while another said one worker handed a slice of salami to a customer without gloves and the third email was regarding the staff having a negative attitude.

The manager then handed over a pre-prepared letter suspending Sissons from work.

Three days later Joanne Blennerhassett held a meeting with Sissons and said she had done an "extensive investigation" and found Sissons was at fault, without showing any evidence supporting her claims.

Joanne Blennerhassett also said she would give Sissons a final warning, although she never did.

On November 5, Sissons was called to Joanne Blennerhassett's office and told she received another email from a customer who had purchased sausages at the store and complained that "a blond girl in the deli … served me with no gloves on".

Sissons denied she had handled sausages in the way complained about but Joanne Blennerhassett told her she was fired.

"Can't keep having these complaints so I am sorry we have to let you go," Joanne Blennerhassett said.

At the end of her shift that day, Sissons asked another manager to print off the email that alleged she was the "blond girl in the deli". But when she read it herself, she noticed there was no reference to a blond girl.

Sissons was also one of two young women with blond hair that worked at that store.

The following day, Sissons sent a text message to her deli manager asking if she could come to work the next day, but she was told her contract had been terminated.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) said the meetings held with her did not meet the statutory obligations under the Employment Act.

"She was not provided with all the information of concern to her employer and was not given a reasonable opportunity to respond to those concerns," the ERA said.

The ERA said Joanne Blennerhassett did not sufficiently investigate the complaints.

Beets said she was "devastated" by what happened.

Sissons said it took her five weeks to find another job and doubted if she could please future employers.

Jamie Blennerhassett has been ordered to pay Sissons $10,000 in compensation for humiliation and injury to feelings; $4861 in lost and arrears of wages and holiday pay and $2071 in costs.