The Department of Corrections has been ordered to pay $98,500 in compensation, damages and penalties following a workplace dispute. Photo / NZME
A Corrections officer was told to “shake off” his injury following an attack by a prisoner, and was later suspended for the incident and put on trial as the accused.
It was around this time that Duane Farrell also learned his life was under threat in his work, which had not been communicated to him by his employer.
Now, almost 10 years later, Farrell has been awarded almost $95,000 in compensation and lost wages after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found he had been treated unfairly while working for the Department of Corrections.
According to an ERA decision, on April 20, 2017, an inmate at an Auckland prison attacked Farrell from behind while he was moving him through the prison.
Farrell told his superior officers he believed he had suffered a significant injury and asked several times for an ambulance to be called to take him to hospital.
This was denied, and he was instead taken to the medical unit, where he was told by a nurse to “shake it off” and wait in the duty supervisor’s office before he was driven to the hospital by another Corrections officer.
In June and July 2017, information came to Corrections’ attention that there was a specific safety threat against Farrell, but Farrell was not informed.
On his return to work in August, he was rostered to work in the same unit in which he had been assaulted.
He told the authority he felt this was appropriate because of his familiarity with the other Corrections officers working there, the systems and the prisoners in that unit.
But that month, Farrell identified a security risk in the unit, which he reported.
Following an assessment, the prison director arranged for him to be moved to another unit that was deemed safe, as there was a potential threat to Farrell.
Later that month, he was promoted to senior Corrections officer and relocated to another unit.
But Farrell was concerned that the reason he was moved was not properly communicated to him, and he did not understand the nature or extent of the threat against him, leaving him fearful and on edge at work.
Farrell found out at a meeting in September that there was a “level 1 threat” made against him, which meant “life is under specific threat of an act of violence from an individual or group capable of carrying out the threat”.
He “felt sick” knowing he had been allowed to return to work in a unit where he could have been attacked again and Corrections had not told him.
“Farrell’s concerns about his safety at work and Corrections’ ability to keep him safe at work were escalating,” authority member Marija Urlich said in the decision.
“He felt his trust that his employer would keep him safe at work was breaking down.”
On November 16, Farrell attended a police interview regarding the earlier assault.
He was told the charges against the prisoner were likely to be dropped and that he would instead be charged, along with two other officers, for assaulting the prisoner.
In March 2018, Farrell was working in a unit holding vulnerable prisoners when an inmate threw urine at another officer, which splashed on Farrell.
Later that month, a prisoner asked to speak with Farrell while he was on duty.
He was then spat at, which resulted in “a spontaneous use of force” by Farrell.
That action was found to be inappropriate, and he was put on non-facing prisoner duties in the gatehouse.
In April 2018, Farrell was suspended from work after police charged him with the initial assault.
A trial took place, with the Crown alleging that Farrell and two other officers attacked an inmate after he hit Farrell.
He was acquitted of the criminal charge.
Farrell returned to work in 2022, completing a refresher course, then resumed duties in his usual work location. His concerns about an adequate, safe return to work continued.
Urlich found that Corrections failed to provide information in relation to serious threats to Farrell’s safety at work during 2017 and to provide a safe system of work after the assaults and injuries he suffered.
It also failed to fairly and reasonably place him on alternative duties and fairly and reasonably consider alternatives to suspension.
“He said he felt punished for doing his job and felt he had been left out of the loop about information that was pertinent to his safety,” Urlich said.
“His understandable alarm and distress to learn the threat against him personally had been assessed by Corrections at the highest level and that this information had not been provided to him, or why, has amplified his fear of threats to himself and his family and made him feel on edge at work.”
Corrections was ordered to pay Farrell $60,000 in compensation, $25,000 in general damages and $9500 in lost earnings.
It was also ordered to pay a $4000 penalty to the Crown.
A Corrections spokesperson told NZME it was still considering the determination and its next steps.
Farrell did not respond when approached for comment.
Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.