Authority finds dismissal correct

Ngawha Prison

A guard at Ngawha Prison who was dismissed for failing to disclose to her employer she had been charged with a criminal offence has failed to get her job back.

The Employment Relations' Authority (ERA) ruled Iona Wikaira was properly dismissed as a corrections officer based at the Ngawha Prison for serious misconduct which breached the Department of Corrections' code of conduct. She worked at the facility from January 2008 until her dismissal this September.

Wikaira was charged with wilful damage in February after a domestic incident between her and her stepfather during which she broke his car windscreen. The department said she failed to disclose the criminal charge laid against her until March 11 by which time she had already appeared in the Kaikohe District Court twice.

She potentially brought the department into disrepute by appearing in court on four occasions and by having a warrant to arrest issued after she failed to appear on May 12. However, the authority accepted her non-appearance in court was due to a miscommunication between Wikaira and her lawyer who advised her not to attend that day.

The department was also concerned she called in sick on the day of her first court appearance on February 25 which suggested she wanted to conceal her attendance in court. Wikaira was discharged without conviction in May.

ERA member Rachel Larmer dismissed Wikaira's claim the department breached the Employment Relations' Act by issuing her with a preliminary decision before it met with her. Ms Larmer ruled the department's operations support manager Michal Rongo genuinely considered her explanation and weighed all the evidence before deciding to dismiss her.

Wikaira claimed she acted in self-defence which gave rise to the wilful damage charge but Ms Larmer said that position was open to her to run in the District Court but she chose to plead guilty.

Despite signing an acknowledgment of receipt of a criminal charge and summons on February 13, Ms Larmer said Wikaira claimed she was not aware she had been charged with until March 11.

"Why attend court and instruct a criminal lawyer if she was not aware she had been charged with a criminal offence?," Ms Larmer said.

"Given the nature of Ms Wikaira's role as a corrections officer and the nature and environment of the department, the failure to disclose a criminal charge at the earliest opportunity is conduct which is capable of being viewed as serious misconduct. It goes to the heart of trust and confidence for someone in her position."