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A Kelowna vegetarian restaurant has lost an appeal with the Employment Standards Tribunal over unpaid compensation and vacation pay for a former assistant manager.

According to a Mar. 3 Employment Standards Tribunal decision, Frankie We Salute You Restaurant filed the appeal after the Tribunal ordered it to pay former assistant manager Jennifer Poley $948 and issued it a $500 fine in October 2021.

Details about what took place between Poley and the restaurant aren't given, but the assistant manager worked there from spring to fall in 2019.

Poley left in October 2019 but how she left was under dispute. This in turn affected her final payout of vacation and compensation for length of service.

Frankie We Salute You Restaurant said Poley quit, but the Tribunal disagreed saying she was dismissed without just cause.

The Tribunal ordered the vegetarian restaurant to pay Poley $948 to cover compensation for length of service along with vacation pay.

In the appeal, Frankie We Salute You said the Tribunal made a mistake in determining that the assistant manager was fired and did not treat all evidence equally.

The restaurant said the Tribunal did not give "proper weight" to "perceived failings" in Poley's conduct.

However, the Employment Standards Tribunal dismissed this, pointing to a full investigation involving multiple witnesses when the original order and fine were given.

The restaurant's co-owner, Christina Skinner, tried to argue that even if the restaurant lost the appeal it still wanted the Tribunal to order Poley to pay some of the $500 fine.

Unsurprisingly, the Tribunal disagreed.

"The law is clear that the administrative penalty owed by the (restaurant) is mandatory in the circumstances and there is no provision in the Employment Standards Act for it to be paid or 'shared' by an employee," the Tribunal ruled.

Skinner also asked the Tribunal for clarification about how to deal with a similar circumstance in the future. The Tribunal didn't address the question.

Ultimately, the Tribunal found there was no error of law and dismissed the appeal, leaving the restaurant to pay $1,448.

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