In June 2026, Tillocksingh delivered a Freedom Furniture shipment from Freedom Moorhouse in Christchurch to a residential property.<\/p>\n
A woman answered the door and Tillocksingh spoke with her while making the delivery.<\/p>\n
Later that day, the Freedom Moorhouse store manager emailed DEL regarding a customer complaint.<\/p>\n
The customer said his flatmate who accepted the delivery felt extremely uncomfortable during her interaction with Tillocksingh.<\/p>\n
The woman alleged he had \u201clingered longer than necessary and made several inappropriate comments\u201d including \u201cdo you work from home?\u201d, \u201csee you soon\u201d, and \u201cI\u2019ll see you in and around town\u201d.<\/p>\n
She also said he had \u201cinteracted with the dog on the property without being invited to do so\u201d.<\/p>\n
The email added that the customer and his flatmate were \u201cconsidering filing a police report to have the incident officially documented\u201d and the exchange was captured on a doorbell camera.<\/p>\n
\u2018Stupid f******\u2019 idiot\u2019 – manager<\/p>\n
Tillocksingh told the authority<\/a> he was called into branch manager Phil Sharp\u2019s office the next day, who yelled that he was in the wrong for the way he spoke to the woman and shouldn\u2019t be talking to customers in the first place.<\/p>\n He said he felt humiliated by Sharp\u2019s comments because it seemed he had already made up his mind about what had happened, without asking for his side of the story.<\/p>\n He accepted he asked the woman, \u201cDo you work from home?\u201d but considered this small talk with no malice intended, and denied saying \u201cSee you soon\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ll see you in and around town\u201d.<\/p>\n He did not recall a dog being on the property, but, if there had been one, he may have interacted with it but did not consider he had lingered longer than necessary.<\/p>\n The next day, things escalated and Sharp said he could resign or DEL would sack him.<\/p>\n According to the decision Sharp called him a \u201cstupid f****** idiot\u201d for \u201cmessing up the Freedom contract\u201d.<\/p>\n Tillocksingh said: \u201cYou\u2019re going to have to fire me because I\u2019m not resigning\u201d and Sharp replied: \u201cWell, you\u2019re fired then.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharp told the authority the complaint was \u201camong the more serious complaints [he had] ever encountered\u201d.<\/p>\n He said during the investigation Tillocksingh was dismissive about the complaint, saying he disagreed with the customer\u2019s description of events, he was just being friendly, and the matter had been blown out of proportion.<\/p>\n Sharp said that, in accordance with company policy, Tillocksingh may be required to undergo a post-incident drug test, which he refused. Tillocksingh then left and never returned.<\/p>\n On June 17, Tillocksingh emailed company owner Stuart Biggs, asking for a copy of his termination letter.<\/p>\n He did not receive a response and Biggs told the authority he assumed Tillocksingh \u201cwas lining up for a personal grievance\u201d and did not consider it necessary to respond to his email.<\/p>\n Fussey said the evidence Biggs and Sharp gave the authority was consistent with that predetermined approach.<\/p>\n \u201cUnder questioning, Biggs and Sharp also indicated that Tillocksingh\u2019s actions were objectively unacceptable, assuming they had taken place as described even though the allegations had not been properly tested through an employment process.\u201d<\/p>\n Fussey concluded that at no stage was DEL genuinely prepared to consider what Tillocksingh had to say, nor did it ask for the doorbell footage mentioned in the complaint.<\/p>\n DEL was ordered to pay Tillocksingh $15,000 compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings and $17,448.75 in lost remuneration.<\/p>\n Biggs\u2019 ERA history<\/p>\n In February 2023 it was determined that a former employee of another company Biggs owns, Star Moving, had been unjustifiably dismissed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Star Moving was ordered to pay $58,739 in compensation and penalties. When that wasn\u2019t paid, the Employment Court fined Star Moving a further $20,000 and warned prison time was the next step.<\/p>\nStuart Biggs, owner and director Drivers Employment. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n