Suspended Green Party MP Darleen Tana was reportedly in charge of handling the wages of an ex-migrant worker who claims they were exploited.
The new accusation comes three months after Tana, the party's small business spokesperson, was stood down over allegations of migrant exploitation at her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen's business.
A former employee of E-Cycles NZ Ltd, trading as Bikes and Beyond, claims they are owed about $25,000 in holiday pay and wages.
The employee, alongside a second migrant employee, laid claims to the Employment Relations Authority. The company has denied the claims.
Barrister Rachel Burt has been commissioned by the Green Party to carry out an investigation to identify what Tana knew about the allegations and how that lined up with what she told party leadership.
The second worker told Stuff Tana was deeply involved in the business and had WhatsApp chat logs with her. The messages appeared to show Tana telling the worker he was eligible to work at the bike shop despite being on a seasonal work visa, which limited him to working in horticulture and viticulture. The worker also claims she advised him to keep working in the bike shop during the COVID-19 lockdown as it was essential work. The texts sent to Stuff also appear to show Tana's husband deferring to her over financial affairs.
"If u want help with wages as we have discussed many many times its [sic] Darleen," Hoff-Nielsen reportedly messaged.
Another exchange between Tana and the worker allegedly shows she discussed COVID-19 subsidies and wages with them.
In a statement, Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said the material was being considered as part of the independent investigation into Tana.
"The party will be making no further comment on this while the investigation remains ongoing," she said.
Green Party co-leaders Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick said Tana notified the party on February 1 about the complaints laid against E-Cycles NZ. They were then notified of a second complaint on February 9.
According to the Greens, the complaints included allegations against Tana, however, she has not been a director or shareholder of the business since 2019.
The party said they kept the complaints from the public to avoid putting the "fair process at risk" and immediately stood her down from the small business portfolio. Tana continued to hold the Digitising Government, Internal Affairs, Media and Communications, Overseas New Zealanders, Oceans and Fisheries, and Science, Innovation and Technology portfolios. The investigation was expected to take weeks, however, that has blown out to months.
Newshub.
