AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd's Tauranga restaurant will struggle to be back in black after he was ordered to pay three former employees more than $NZ72,000 ($A68,314) for wrongfully sacking them.
An Employment Relations Authority decision has ruled for the employees - kitchenhand Alice Kiwa and chefs Janelle Kiwa and Hayden Clark - after the 59-year-old musician tried to drum them out of Phil's Place in July 2012.
One evening, Rudd had asked for an antipasto platter to be sent to his boat, but his security guard redirected the meal to the aircraft hangar.
When his meal didn't show up, a furious Rudd returned to the restaurant and kicked the back door yelling: "Where is my f***** meal", "you're all f***** useless" and "you're all f***** fired."
Two days later, Melbourne-born Rudd arranged for his accountant to apologise to the trio for his behaviour. He only apologised in person 18 months later.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Around the same time the accountant was apologising, staff were told the struggling restaurant would close for winter and they had no jobs.
The trio took Rudd to the ERA, where he unsuccessfully tried to keep his name out of the public domain.
In her decision released this week, ERA member Tania Tetitaha ruled the three were permanent employees because of their work history, rather than casual staff.
Rudd, who claimed he didn't know what redundancy was, told the ERA he closed the restaurant because of concerns about staff theft, long waiting times for meals and the playing unauthorised music.
He did not offer any financial records to show the restaurant was struggling.
Ms Tetitaha ruled they were unjustifiably dismissed.
She awarded them thousands each in lost wages and compensation of $15,000 each because Rudd's behaviour had been scary and intimidating and the trio had variously suffered depression, been made homeless and subject to false accusations of theft.
She also ordered the restaurant to pay their legal costs of $8500.
Rudd's total bill was $72,600.
He now leases the restaurant premises to another party.
Earlier this month, Rudd was cleared of lying about a cannabis conviction when applying for his private helicopter pilot's licence.
