The manager asked clients to pay directly to her account instead of the salon's
A hairdressing salon manager has been sentenced to two months and two weeks of community detention for making her clients deposit payments to her own account instead of the salon.
The Hamilton District Court handed Lisa Hermes the detention, with a 10pm to 7am curfew, and placed her under nine months of supervision to ensure that she would not reoffend, The New Zealand Herald reported.
The sentence comes after Hermes pleaded guilty in July 2022 to theft totalling $2,808, after she made 12 clients pay directly to her bank account instead of her employers' over a nine-month period.
‘Criminal element’ to employment
Hermes initially joined Scotts the Hair Studio in 2016 after being invited its owners and sisters Kay Holt and Robyn Boe in entering a business partnership, according to the New Zealand Herald report.
Mark Jepson, Hermes' lawyer, told the court that his client was under the impression that she was entering "some type of profit-share or partnership with the company," which never materialized.
Jepson said Hermes incurred expenses while working at the salon and believed that she would be repaid or at some time was going to receive a portion of the salon or a portion of the profit share.
"But then, after a period of time, whether it can be explained that the relationship soured, Ms. Hermes has then taken matters into her own hands and that is the criminal element that we need to discuss today," Jepson said as quoted by the Herald.
According to Jepson, Hermes recognises that what she did was the "dumbest thing she has ever done," adding that she had no intention of hurting anyone.
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"She acknowledges taking the money was the wrong thing to do," Jepson said.
The money has since been repaid to the salon, according to the New Zealand Herald report.
'Deliberate act of dishonesty'
Judge Philip Crayton considered that Hermes had no criminal history and pleaded guilty to the 12 charges against her but ruled that a sentence was needed for her "deliberate act of dishonesty."
Holt, who spoke on behalf of the company, said Hermes' sentencing would close matters for herself and her family.
"You've let your friends and your family down, Lisa. You've shown them that you have offended as a criminal," Holt said as quoted by the New Zealand Herald.