Three women working at police headquarters say they left after alleged bullying by Wally Haumaha

August 9, 2018
Wally Haumaha appointed Deputy Commissioner

As investigations into the appointment process of Wally Haumaha as deputy police commissioner continue, it has emerged that three women working on a joint justice project reportedly left because of Mr Haumaha's alleged bullying of them at work.

The three women were employed as policy analysts and were working in the Māori, Pacific, Ethnic Services division run by Mr Haumaha at the Police National Headquarters in Wellington when the alleged bullying took place.

A report by the NZ Herald states the women were excited to be working on a cross-sector project to improve "justice outcomes" for Māori which began in October 2015.

The Deputy Police Commissioner has been accused of bullying three women he worked with, and that police knew about it.

However, the excitement soon abated, with a number of alleged bullying incidents taking place between the women and Mr Haumaha that reportedly saw them leaving the Police National Headquarters in June 2016, to continue working on the project at another location.

"Haumaha gave little support and value to the work being done by us and instead belittled our efforts publicly on several occasions," one of the women, who does not wish to be named, told the NZ Herald.

Speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister during Question Time today, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the allegations would be looked into as part of the inquiry into Mr Haumaha's appointment process as deputy commissioner of police.

"I can assure the member that we will be following up with chief executives of those agencies on the allegations that have been made in the NZ Herald article," Mr Robertson said, replying to a question from National MP Paula Bennett on the issue.

All three women reportedly told their managers of the bullying but were never asked to make a formal complaint on the issue. The Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement "immediately" contacted the Justice Ministry and Corrections to request more information on behalf of the police and he advised that the staff involved could make a complaint if they wished.

"No further information or complaints were forthcoming to Mr Clement from the agencies," a police spokeswoman told the NZ Herald.

"In the absence of any formal complaint, or further information, the matter was unable to be taken further and therefore not escalated to the Commissioner.

"Police take allegations of bullying seriously. However substantiated information is required about allegations before any follow up actions can be progressed, particularly when the only information available is from a third party not directly involved."

One of the women reportedy said: "I will make a complaint now. We trusted management to deal with it and never heard back."

Background

These allegations come as the process into Mr Haumaha's recent appointment as the deputy commissioner of police is under investigation. 

This began after it was reported an officer told the 2004 Operation Austin investigation into the police sex allegations that Mr Haumaha called Louise Nicholas' rape allegations "nonsense" and that "nothing really happened".

Mr Haumaha apologised for the comments, saying they do not reflect his views.

"It is important to say outright that I take responsibility for those comments, I deeply regret them, and I unreservedly apologise for the hurt and concern they have caused," he said.

The investigation hasn't gone smoothly, with Dr Pauline Kingi, who was chosen to head the inquiry into the appointment of Wally Haumaha as deputy police commissioner, standing down.

The development came after it emerged Mr Haumaha's LinkedIn account shows 23 skill endorsements from an account in the name of Dr Pauline Kingi, including leadership, Government and stakeholder management.

A new chair of the inquiry is expected to be named this week.

REPLIES

Corrections: "We take all allegations of bullying and harassment seriously. Anyone who has a current or historic complaint is able to raise this for investigation.

"At different times, two Corrections staff were seconded to work on a cross-sector project about improving justice outcomes for Maori. One of our staff initially worked at Police National Headquarters, and later worked from the Ministry of Justice, which we supported.

"We have no record of any allegation of bullying being made by either Corrections staff member seconded to work on the project.

"The first person seconded has not worked for the Department since August 2016. During her secondment her manager was in regular contact with the staff member. The second person, who returned to work at Corrections at the completion of the project, has confirmed that she had no concerns."

Colin Lynch from Justice: "Five Ministry of Justice employees – two women and three men – worked at different times at the Police National Headquarters in the Māori, Pacific, Ethnic Services division from October 2015 until June 2016 on a project about improving justice outcomes for Maori.

"Issues were raised by the Ministry employees about the management of the project in June 2016. Subsequently, the Ministry decided the Justice employees would work on the project from the Ministry’s National Office. The project ended in mid-2017.

"The issues around behaviour were raised at the highest level between the Acting Chief Executive of the Ministry and a Deputy Commissioner at Police. The Ministry expected Police to follow up this issue appropriately." 

 

SHARE ME