A former member of the infamous renegade prison "goon squad" has been awarded $25,000 in a high-profile battle with his employer.
A long-awaited Employment Court decision has found the Corrections Department breached its work contract with Christchurch prison officer Nigel French.
The court has ordered the department to pay him $5000 inexemplary damages and $20,000 compensation for distress and humiliation he suffered. Mr French remains a prison officer.
The decision is expected to pave the way for fellow former squad members planning legal action against their employer.
Judge Graeme Colgan criticised aspects of the squad's operation in his 46-page judgment, calling one live exercise in Paparua Prison "unwise, perhaps even arguably unlawful".
He described inmates riled by the squad stamping through the prison in riot gear late at night on December 19, 1999, as "artificially created disorder".
The Paparua-based squad had a culture of exclusivity and supra-legal status within the department, he said.
The department said it did not wish to comment until the New Year.
The shadowy emergency response unit was set up in July 1999 to help prisons deal with potential disruption at New Year 2000 and was run along military lines.
