As a regular customer of a Hip Group cafe, I am deeply disappointed in the way you have treated your employee Amanda Bailey. I hope that you can find it in your hearts to apologise to her properly, and to all your female staff, whose lives you have affected by your actions.

On the 23rd of April, the owners of the Hip Group, Scott Brown and Jackie Grant, called their employee Amanda Bailey to a meeting. They were complicit in a number lies to her, in order to set her up to speak, under false pretences, to NZ Herald gossip columnist Rachel Glucina.

http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/04/23/update-the-prime-minister-and-the-waitress-part-2-dirty-politics/

Amanda Bailey believed she was helping to protect Scott and Jackie from any fallout from 'Ponytail Gate' that might make them look like negligent employers. They pretended to be using Rachel Glucina as a PR consultant.

http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/04/22/exclusive-the-prime-minister-and-the-waitress/

Instead, they behaved in a way that demonstrated they are terrible employers, willing to hang Amanda Bailey out to dry to help a friend (Rachel Glucina) write a politically motivated article, for which Amanda Bailey withdrew consent.

Politics aside, it is unacceptable under any circumstances, for a customer in a cafe to touch a member of staff, whether as 'horseplay' or not.

By stitching up their employer Amanda Bailey, Scott Brown and Jackie Grant have sent a message to NZ that the opposite is true where their female employees are concerned, and that they are not protected by their employer from public humiliation or unwanted contact. I believe they have created an unacceptable and toxic working environment for Amanda Bailey, and for all their female employees.

However, they can easily counter this perception by apologising.

If you agree, please sign this petition calling on Scott Brown and Jackie Grant to issue an apology (privately is fine) to Amanda Bailey and to all their female staff for exposing them in this way.