A grieving mother has secured justice for her late daughter, organ-transplant recipient and cystic fibrosis advocate Makena Houston, after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ruled she had been constructively dismissed and unlawfully denied wages by Auckland PR firm Lily & Louis.
Houston died in August at age 32 while still fighting to recover more than two months’ unpaid wages from the company and its chief executive, Jacqui Ansin.
Houston, who had previously interned with the firm and admired its CEO, returned as a part-time senior publicist in May 2024.
Despite providing her bank details, she received no pay for nine weeks, prompting repeated pleas for wages as her bills mounted.
Days before an ERA investigation meeting, an unexpected partial payment of $3,663 appeared in her account. Ansin claimed she withheld wages because Houston sought payment via Prezzy card, suggesting this could constitute benefit fraud — a claim the ERA firmly rejected, noting Houston had supplied banking details and that employers cannot withhold pay over benefit concerns.
Amid delays attributed to Ansin’s health issues, Houston resigned in July after enduring what ERA member Helen van Druten described as “actively misleading” behaviour, including threats to report her to IRD and media. Van Druten found Ansin’s conduct exacerbated Houston’s medical vulnerability and caused severe distress, amounting to constructive dismissal and unjustified disadvantage.
Houston died on 27 August, one day before another scheduled hearing. Her mother, Tracey Richardson, continued the case on her behalf, fulfilling her daughter’s dying wish that “the fight be seen through to the end,” she told legacy media.
The ERA ordered Lily & Louis to pay $19,287 to Houston’s estate and $5,000 in penalties to the Crown. Ansin will be personally liable if the company fails to pay.
What is wrong with employers and managers so many of them are nasty!
Great result for all those employees treated like this! Hoorah
Pretty despicable treatment of an employee by Lily & Louis and Jacqui Ansin. Hopefully their (un)professional reputation is blackened by their behaviour.
PR firm engineers the biggest PR disaster in the history of PR firms
Yes, please tell me again how bad “toxic masculinity” is in the workplace, when it’s always women who treat each other the worst
Sometimes its better for employers to pay out at mediation stage even if they are in the right. It gets the thing over and done with quickly and avoids the negative publicity in the event they lose in the ERA.