An employment law expert believes a decision by the Human Rights Tribunal will act as a warning to employers.

The tribunal awarded a Hawke's Bay woman $168,000 after her former company shared a picture of a cake made by her,  featuring disparaging comments about it.

The woman made the cake after leaving the company.

Her former employers took a screenshot of it from her private Facebook page, and spread it around recruitment agencies as well as her then current employer.

Partner at Simpson Grierson, Shan Wilson says the tribunal is only allowed to award damages of up to $200,000, so this sends a strong message.

"They've set out to raise the threshold and exposure for employers."

Shan Wilson says her decision to post it to social media makes it a questionable privacy breach.

"It's a vindictive action, it's malicious, but the interesting point is whether they should be liable for this."