Inside the wrongful dismissal of an airline staffer who refused to join a smuggling ring

Air China has been ordered to pay nearly $50,000 for the wrongful dismissal of an Auckland-based staff member who claimed she was sacked for refusing to take part in a cigarette smuggling ring. Miao ‘Aimee’ Wang’s employment was terminated without notice in July 2020 for alleged serious misconduct. However, she claimed she was bullied, harassed and even assaulted by a colleague when she refused to join the smuggling ring, which was later busted by a Customs investigation called Operation Waxeye. The investigation resulted in three senior Air China staff pleading guilty to defrauding Customs of revenue before they were discharged without conviction. Wang was never a suspect or even interviewed by Operation Waxeye investigators - but Air China’s head office announced on messaging app WeChat that she was suspected of smuggling. She won a defamation action in Beijing as a result. During her turbulent time working for the airline, Wang was subjected to two disciplinary meetings - one which ended after midnight and the other which lasted almost four hours and concluded with a senior manager confiscating a recording device she’d used. The Employment Relations Authority heard the case over six days in 2023 and 2024 and, in a decision released on February 28, was highly critical of Air China’s actions. Wang told Stuff the much-delayed hearing process and a seven-month wait for a decision was worth it. “I don’t care about the money: I just wanted the truth, I wanted justice,” she said this week. “I am quite happy: $47,000 or four dollars, it doesn’t matter, it’s about the outcome, because I’ve suffered. It’s taken a very long time - I’ve been through hell, I would say. It feels like a big rock has been removed from my chest.”<br/>