Nelson lawyer Anjela Sharma, who made headlines following her failed action to reinstate a travel ban placed upon her by Air New Zealand following a disagreement over Koru Lounge access, has been denied the chance to appeal a case that could cost her clients substantially, according to reports.
The Court of Appeal rejected her appeal involving clients who had their services terminated by the disability support provider, IHC New Zealand.
Subsequently, the pair filed a negligence lawsuit against Sharma, claiming that her failure to submit an unjustified dismissal claim within 90 days of their employment termination had caused them to potentially lose an estimated $50,000. In response, Sharma counter-sued the two for failure to pay her legal fees.
The former clients have been waiting for 17 months to see the outcome of their legal action against Sharma, including the reimbursement of their legal expenses.
In a separate legal matter in 2019, Sharma took legal action against Air New Zealand after the airline imposed a one-year travel ban on her due to a dispute over access to the Koru Lounge. Her attempt to overturn the ban was unsuccessful, and she was ordered to cover Air New Zealand’s court costs, amounting to approximately $30,000.
The case made news both here and overseas with the Daily Mail reporting that Sharma, her husband and their six children, who are all teenagers or adults, flew from Nelson to Auckland before boarding a business class flight from Auckland to India in 2018 and believed the business class tickets allowed her whole family of eight to access Air New Zealand’s exclusive Koru Lounge in Nelson Aiport before their domestic flight.
The Daily Mail report said Sharma was well known at Nelson airport for what they claimed court papers had said was ‘bullying’ and loud behaviour at the airport, including claimed offensive allegations against Air New Zealand staff.
