The following day, it emerged that the central Wellington office of lawyer John Hickling, Snowdon's husband, had been burgled. He said documents pertaining to the upcoming hearing had been stolen.
Snowdon had previously laid a police complaint over RNZ spending, but police found no grounds to investigate. She was sacked from her job in 2005 after two years on stress leave.
She has been fighting her dismissal through the Employment Court ever since, alleging she had been sacked because management was scared she would blow the whistle on money she alleged was missing at Radio NZ.
On Tuesday, the judge agreed to delay the trial. "Given the medication the plaintiff is now receiving, I have deep concerns about whether her presence would be possible," he said. "That, on its own, would be sufficient to persuade me that, with great reluctance, an adjournment is required."
He said he had seen "no new evidence" to suggest fraudulent conduct by any Radio NZ employee or board member, past or present.
In an earlier judgment, Judge Travis had struck out some of Snowdon's allegations against the state broadcaster. He required the rest of the claim to be amended to comply with the requirements of the Employment Court regulations.
Snowdon had alleged that Radio NZ knew, or should have known, that certain of the broadcaster's accounting information was false or misleading. Radio NZ disclosed its financial records for 1999 to 2004 on five CD-Roms, but the accuracy of the information they contain has been questioned by Snowdon's legal team.
Judge Travis said Snowdon and her lawyers had not produced any evidence to back up some of the allegations. Other aspects will proceed to trial, which is not now expected to take place until next year.
The judge ordered Snowdon's lawyers to file another amended statement of claim.
He said Snowdon was trying to sell the home she part-owned in Oriental Bay to raise $200,000 security for Radio NZ's legal costs.
The Employment Court judgment comes as the Serious Fraud Office considers whether to investigate Snowdon's allegations. The report by BDO Information Systems Ltd forensic accountant Wayne Kedzlie claims $12 million of Radio NZ funds were misappropriated or used for improper purposes. Of that, $795,000 is said by Kedzlie to be missing and untraceable from the broadcaster's financial records.
An SFO spokeswoman said no decision had yet been made on an inquiry.
Snowdon was not available to comment this weekend. Radio NZ chief financial officer Ken Law declined to answer questions. "The judgments speak for themselves," he said. "That's all I want to say."
