Oranga Tamariki worker temporarily reinstated after becoming 'aggressive' with child

An Oranga Tamariki youth worker was fired after it was found he inappropriately handled a situation with a boy at a youth justice residence. Photo/123rf

An Oranga Tamariki youth worker fired for becoming "aggressive" towards a young person by raising his fist and "inappropriately" restraining him has been temporarily reinstated to his former position.

Stephen Baillie was dismissed from his job at youth justice residence Te Puna Wai ō Tuhinapo, near Rolleston in Christchurch, in September last year after the April incident.

CCTV footage showed Baillie "square up" with a young person by bringing his face within inches of the boy.

Baillie then pulled back his right arm and briefly clenched his fist. No punch or hit followed and he then released his fist.

He and his colleague then restrained the boy, an Employment Court decision has detailed.

Moments before, the boy had kicked Baillie after a discussion between the two about a phone call the boy was having with his girlfriend.

Baillie claims the boy was being "verbally abusive" towards the girl and so he spoke with him about his language and behaviour.

Baillie and his colleague then left the room and the boy threw a speaker.

Baillie, who has worked at the detention centre since May 2017, returned to the room and during further discussions, tried to grab the speaker.

Oranga Tamariki youth worker Stephen Baillie has raised a personal grievance with the agency and lodged proceedings with the Employment Relations Authority. Photo/RNZ

At that point, the boy kicked Baillie, connecting with his hip. The incident ended after Baillie clenched his fist and the youth was restrained.

The next day, the boy alleged Baillie had made insulting comments to him and threatened his "behaviour management system points".

The boy acknowledged he had thrown the speaker and kicked Baillie.

As a result of the complaint, Oranga Tamariki reviewed the video footage and set in motion a disciplinary process.

The residence manager's preliminary finding established Baillie displayed "aggressive and intimidating behaviour towards a young person".

"Mr Baillie got into a sidewise stance, with his right hand clenched into a fist pulling his arm back, which suggested he was preparing to punch or hit the young person," the decision said, referencing findings from the disciplinary process.

"When the young person was sitting down, Mr Baillie was standing over him before moving in on top of him, which was completely unprovoked."

It was also found Baillie inappropriately restrained the seated boy, in circumstances where it was unjustified or unnecessary.

The case has recently been heard in the Employment Court. Photo/123rf

Another allegation was partially substantiated, being that Baillie had taunted the youth.

Based on those findings, the manager's preliminary view was that Baillie's actions amounted to serious misconduct and warranted instant dismissal.

Oranga Tamariki made the final decision, ruling he was to be dismissed from his job without notice.

Baillie then raised a personal grievance with Oranga Tamariki and lodged proceedings with the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) seeking both interim and permanent reinstatement to his former position.

In October, ERA dismissed Baillie's claim for interim reinstatement and a substantive hearing of his personal grievance is set down to be heard at the Authority in April.

Baillie has since challenged the Authority's determination to dismiss his claim for interim reinstatement in the Employment Court.

After a December hearing, Judge Joanna Holden released her decision this month.

In it, she examined whether there was an arguable case for unjustifiable dismissal; and if so, whether there was an arguable case for permanent reinstatement.

Oranga Tamariki accepted Baillie has an arguable case for unjustifiable dismissal but says it is by no means strong or clear cut.

Oranga Tamariki said permanent reinstatement was practical but, based on the seriousness of the incident as well as an earlier incident where Baillie allegedly behaved aggressively towards other staff and his alleged lack of insight or acceptance of wrongdoing, the case was weak.

Baillie argued there had been failures in the disciplinary process.

He further claimed the preliminary decision had relied on a "split-second" CCTV frame, that it had incorrectly established the boy did not kick Baillie, and that it relied on subjective views around whether the closeness of him to the boy was intimidating or aggressive.

There had been no history of Baillie using unjustified force on young persons and he otherwise had a "clean" employment record, it was argued.

Judge Holden found that although the evidence remains to be properly heard and tested, at this stage Baillie's claim of unjustifiable dismissal was tenable.

If he were to succeed in his argument that his actions did not constitute serious misconduct warranting summary dismissal, Judge Holden said it would be difficult to argue that it was not reasonable for him to be reinstated.

"I am satisfied that, with its resources and in view of the supervision and oversight that staff operate under, Oranga Tamariki would be able to have Mr Baillie at work without any undue health and safety risk to the young persons," she ruled.

"In all the circumstances, an order is made that Mr Baillie be reinstated pending the outcome of the authority's investigation."