Cockroach collector's sacking from pie maker found lawful

13:30 AEST Thu Aug 19 2010

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By MSN NZ Money staff

A man who collected live cockroaches and stored them in his work locker was rightfully sacked, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ruled.

Henry Faumuina, who works at Purity Foods, the makers of Big Ben pies, collected the cockroaches over a two-week period, NZPA reported.

Previously warned about misconduct, he had twice refused his manager's request to get rid of the insects. Faumuina was sacked mid-2007 for disobeying a what the ERA said was a lawful and reasonable order.

He took his case to the ERA and told them he was saving the cockroaches "as evidence" for his partner who also worked at the company.

She said she was bringing a personal grievance case against Purity Foods after received a warning.

Faumuina failed to attend a disciplinary meeting and appeared on TV with his lawyer, Olinda Woodroffe, claiming there was a cockroach problem at the company.

Company policy states that pest sightings must be reported and logged, which Faumuina failed to do.

His dismissal was ruled as justified and the process fair and reasonable.

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User comments

how rare are albine cockroaches, i found one does anyone want it?

Cockroaches are very high in protein and in some Asian countries they eat them and its a Delicacy.I wont go there lol.Watch Fear Factor Program they eat cockroaches live lol.

Cockroaches have more protein by weight than mince... and they taste so good!

wht eva......... sounds like wht eva was goin on........ no body gave them a chance 2 here wht henry had 2 say.....may b its true.......get bk 2 u sooon

Surely nothing more than a bit of added protein in your pie?! Ha! But you can't really blame a factory for having insects, they all will have some - insect killers etc can only do so much

Couple of things, one of which has been dealt with by ERA, secondly will relevant food safety authorities be investigating the allegations for which he was sacked? I'm a firm believer of making my own they taste better than any shop pie and you know what's in them

First of all, the general public never recieves all the information via media, so u can safely say we only have maybe one quarter of the story. Hardly enough information to make an informed opinion Secondly, to the first person who commented, "grow up"

i am always disappointed by slanted journalism. there is a lot more to this story than meets the eye. the company involved fumigates on a very regular basis and no one that works for the company has sighted the insects except for this former employee who is the partner of another former employee (whose behaviour at work could have had serious ramifications for other staff members and machinery). interesting how they found them in his locker AND NO WHERE ELSE. the ERA made a very justified and fair decision. the pies at that bakery and the hygiene standards are impeccable. and no i don't work there, know anyone who does work there, or the owners.

Pies fill the gap when the gap must be filled. Food is food and cockroaches are are a fine source of protein. Why this person was storing cockroaches in their locker is the concern. Media in NZ is more than happy to take a story to the public before it's proven to be true so there is no need to 'build a case'. I would easily side with the Big Ben pies as they are a large enough firm that is not willing to sacrafice their employees jobs and a good reputation on a crazy disgruntled employee who stores cockroaches in their locker. Go Big Ben supply the people with what they want.

Hmmmm, hmmmm yammy cockroach pie, go ahead pie eaters keep eating their dark "beef" or mince (who knows what is inside?) Also keep stopping by any NZ foreigner owned bakeries and eat what they decided to feed you inside their pies for the day... cat or dog meat, might be your lucky day - who knows?