A man has claimed he was intimidated after complaining about the Mid-Western Rugby Club.
A man has claimed he was intimidated after complaining about the Mid-Western Rugby Club.
A Whangarei man's complaint about a sports club was part of a plan to possibly contest the district's mayoralty, the club's president told the Human Rights' Review Tribunal.
Paul McDowell, president of the Mid-Western Rugby and Sports Club in Maungakaramea, denied he intimidated Wayne Deeming after the latter lodged acomplaint with then Mayor of Whangarei, Stan Semenoff.
The complaint related to an incident at the Mid-Western Rugby Club on August 8, 2009, which, in Mr Deeming's view, raised issues about the club's adherence to the provisions of the then Sale of Liquor Act 1989 administered by the council.
His case is his complaint was sent by the mayor's assistant Ford Watson to Cr Shelley Deeming who, in turn, sent it to Mr McDowell. Mr Deeming alleges the council breached the Privacy Act by disclosing to a third party (or parties) he had lodged the complaint.
Mr Deeming claims he was harassed by Mr McDowell at his home on August 19, 2009, causing him to fear for his safety, and received a life-time ban from the club. He said reports in the now defunct New Zealand Truth newspaper led to hurt and humiliation to him and his family. Mr Deeming says, Mr Watson assisted the author to write the article. He said he was referred to as "puerile", a "viper" by Cr Deeming and Mr Watson in correspondence received under the Official Information Act.
Mr McDowell appeared as a council witness yesterday and said he went to Mr Deeming's to suggest he should have discussed his concerns with the club. At no time did he intimidate Mr Deeming, he said. Mr McDowell said people in his community were of the view Mr Deeming complained to try and further his desire to contest the Whangarei mayoralty.
Earlier, council lawyer Peter Magee questioned why Mr Deeming did not go to police. He said Mr Deeming did not mention anything about the poor conduct of Cr Deeming and Mr Watson or the privacy breach in letters to Mr Semenoff and the Northland Rugby Union.
Warren Slater, who appeared as Mr Deeming's witness, said the council did not appear to be accountable for its employees' breaches of its code of conduct.
