Board’s “shutdown” approach to employee complaint causes disadvantage and award of $25,000
In Mowat v Christchurch Boys’ High School Board of Trustees [2025] NZERA 855, the Employment Relations Authority awarded $25,000 to Mrs Mowat, a former teacher at Christchurch Boy’s High School to compensate for humiliation, loss of dignity, and injury to feelings for unjustifiable disadvantage due to how a complaint was managed by the Board of Trustees.
Mrs Mowat made concerns known to the Board of Trustees in accordance with the relevant complaints policy. The Board in its response stated “…we do not intend to re-litigate or provide any further response to issues that have previously been responded…”. The concerns were not on the findings of an investigation in early 2019. They regarded conduct by the Principal and Board during the investigation and since.
The Authority considered this “shutdown” approach to have caused disadvantage in her employment. The Authority found that the concerns raised should have been recognised as a complaint under the Board’s own policy, triggering an obligation to respond. The Board did not adequately address Mrs Mowat’s concerns. This failure fell short of the Board’s statutory duty of good faith under the Employment Relations Act 2000. They failed to recognise her concerns which substantively acted as a complaint under the complaints process. This continued in further interactions such as continuing to refer Mrs Mowat to the complaints process and claim that matters had been dealt with. This was not constructive in resolving the concerns. The Authority indicated a more proactive approach was required by the Board in its duty of good faith.
The case highlights the importance of correctly identifying when a complaint has been made and when your complaints policy applies. It also shows that substantial awards can be made by the Authority if the way that boards deal with complaints disadvantages an employee. A robust and fair complaints process is key, and boards must follow their own processes.
Dealing with complaints from staff or parents can seem overwhelming for boards and a daunting hill to climb. This can be due to a number of different factors including limited time and resources, a lack of experience with the complaints process, as well as conflict of interest issues. We are also seeing complaints that are quite complex and added to that can be “unreasonable complaint conduct”.
It is important for boards to:
- Seek advice at an early stage.
- Follow their own policies.
- Make sure they have a robust and fair complaints policy.
- Understand that raising a “concern”, could mean that a complaint has been raised and the complaints policy needs to be applied.
- Maintain a professional approach.
- Where possible seek to de-escalate and engage constructively with the complainant.
Thanks to Special Counsel Madeleine Hawkesby for preparing this article.
Contact our employment law team for tailored advice for your situation.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is general in nature and not intended as a substitute for specific professional advice on any matter and should not be relied upon for that purpose.
