ACC investigating complaint by injured woman’s advocate who alleges she was threatened by staffer in email

ACC is investigating a complaint about the actions of a staffer who allegedly threatened an injured woman's advocate by email. Photo / STOCK

ACC is investigating a complaint by an advocate for an injured woman who claims a staffer threatened to report her for “fraud” in an email.

The advocate said the threat was “vexatious” and “an abuse of power and process” and amounted to “serious misconduct” and wanted action taken.

Last week the Herald reported on Blenheim midwife Nicola Rasmussen who fell from her deck three years ago and says she has battling ACC about her diagnosis ever since.

The once lively 46-year-old is now mostly confined to her bed or a wheelchair and is fighting to get treatment for a condition called cauda equina, which occurs when the nerve roots in the lumbar spine are compressed, cutting off sensation and movement.

At her wit’s end, Rasmussen sought the help of well-known advocate Fiona Radford.

Nicky Rasmussen injured her back in 2020 and has been battling ACC since then for a diagnosis and treatment plan.

Last month Radford was seeking answers from a driving service around specific details of Rasmussen’s care.

As part of that she forwarded the service - at its request - information from an email in which an ACC resolutions specialist confirmed the service as “safe” transport for Rasmussen.

Radford suggested the service contact the ACC staffer if they needed further details from her.

The staffer then contacted Radford, alleging that in the correspondence with the driving service she had included “a heavily edited copy” of her email.

“I consider this deliberate action of redacting information from my original email to be an integrity issue, as it completely changed the meaning of the communication by removing important information,” the ACC staffer said.

“I am concerned your action was not only deliberately misleading, but opened the door for my personal integrity and reputation to be called into question with not only the client but an external provider.

“If this happens again it will be referred onto our integrity services team to be investigated as fraud.”

Radford told the Herald the “threat” was a “frivolous and vexatious abuse of process”, serious misconduct, and harassment of an advocate, which effectively amounted to harassment of Rasmussen.

She has made a complaint to ACC and that complaint is now being investigated.

Radford said the staffer’s email was “truncated or abridged” in her correspondence with the driving service to protect her client’s privacy but included the relevant information and was not misleading, nor did it question the integrity or reputation of anyone.

She said matters of integrity or reputation could not be a basis for a fraud claim and she would not tolerate being “accused of a criminal act or threatened in any manner”.

She is considering further action, including a formal complaint under Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, saying the email is “an offensive threat”.

“False allegations of criminal acts are an abuse of process and are considered psychological abuse under the law,” said Radford.

“The threat is being used in an inappropriate manner by a corporation… a blatant abuse of power and position.”

Radford sought a copy of ACC’s policy of “respectful and inclusive workplace 2021″ - which includes anyone interacting with staff.

The policy around inappropriate conduct includes “any verbal or threatening email”.

Radford felt the situation had also affected Rasmussen’s claim.

“Threatening advocates to silence or make us go away doesn’t work,” she said.

“It will never work and seriously needs to be addressed.”

Nicky Rasmussen worked as a midwife and had an active lifestyle until her injury in 2020.

ACC deputy chief executive of service delivery Amanda Malu said Radford’s complaint had been received and was being investigated.

“Advocates play an important role in helping injured people navigate their claim with ACC,,” she told the Herald.

“Clients can ask anyone to act as an advocate for them, for any reason.

“We support our client’s right to make this choice, and also fund independent navigation services to ensure our clients have access to independent advice and support at no cost.”

Malu said the situation had in no way affected the management of, or communication about Rasmussen’s claim.

“Our relationships with clients, providers and advocates are based on trust and good faith,” she said.

“We rely on advocates to maintain the integrity of information and communication when dealing with clients and providers.”

Rasmussen’s ACC claim is ongoing and she has a specialist appointment next month which she hopes will finally lead to answers and a helpful treatment plan for her injury.