Two insurers have been chosen for the Roger Award for the Worst Transnational Corporation operating in New Zealand.
The winners of the award, run by Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) and Foreign Control Watchdog, were chosen by a group of academics, businesspeople, and trade unionists.
South African insurer Youi has been recognised as the “worst transnational corporation operating in Aotearoa/New Zealand” in 2016; while last year’s winner IAG/State Insurance scooped second place, Pacific Media Centre reported.
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Youi was declared “one of the most despicable and shameful companies” in its business dealings with the Kiwi public at an awards ceremony in Onehunga last week, the report said.
“New entrant Youi made it to the top with its gratuitous abuse of legal niceties, customers, and potential customers and its own workers,” said chief judge Sue Bradford, a former Green Party MP and now an activist with Auckland Action Against Poverty.
Youi was fined $320,000 in the Auckland District Court after pleading guilty to 15 charges of misleading customers, plus a maximum fine of $100,000 by the Insurance Council of New Zealand.
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