Source: Radio New Zealand
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Christchurch Boys’ High School. Wikimedia Commons
A former Christchurch Boys’ High School (CBHS) teacher who left her job of 18 years amid claims of bullying and false accusations has been awarded $25,000 in compensation.
Susan Mowat resigned from her role at the school in 2019 after two years of disputes with the school’s headmaster Nic Hill, which she said had a significant impact on her wellbeing, reputation, and ability to work.
The school and the board denied her claims, and said they were vexatious and out of time.
Mowat raised claims against her former employer of unfair dismissal and unjustifiable disadvantage, with a five-day hearing held before the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) in April 2025.
The ERA found the school board did not adequately address Mowat’s concerns about being blamed for things she had not done, but that she had not been unjustifiably dismissed.
Some of the disputes were centred around a series of anonymous letters submitted to the board throughout 2017 and 2018 that were critical of Hill.
Hill told the board he believed Mowat had written the letters because of previous conflict between the pair and the language, content and handwriting in them, but an independent investigation was unable to conclude who had written them.
Mowat said the process and behaviour by the board throughout that time caused her employment to become untenable.
In a determination released this week, authority member Lucia Vincent said Mowat was unjustifiably disadvantaged when the board told her it did not intend to respond to issues it considered it had previously had responded to during the investigation into the letters.
Vincent said the board took a “shutdown approach” by not adequately addressing Mowat’s concerns while maintaining they had, which was unfair.
“This approach unjustifiably disadvantaged Mrs Mowat who felt unheard and her concerns minimised by the board during a vulnerable time for her following the investigations.
“It was not consistent with the duty of good faith that required a more active, constructive, responsive and communicative approach. Nor was it what a fair and reasonable employer could have done in all the circumstances at the time.”
Vincent said there was no evidence the shutdown approach was intended to force Mowat to resign, and the breach of duty by the board was not serious enough to warrant her foreseeable resignation, so she had not been unjustifiably dismissed.
The authority did not find Mowat was unjustifiably disadvantaged on three other claims that related to the board chair’s comments that her conduct amounted to harassment, alleged changes to board meeting minutes and concerns over mediation.
In light of the personal grievance, the authority awarded Mowat $25,000 in compensation for the physical and mental symptoms she suffered during her final years of employment at CBHS.
School and teacher respond
Mowat said the determination confirmed she had been unjustifiably disadvantaged following an investigation into anonymous letters that were written to the Board of Trustees in 2017 – 2018.
Her lawyer Kathryn Dalziel said for at least a year, Mowat had raised genuine concerns about repeated unfair treatment, inaccurate assumptions about her conduct, the mishandling of critical information, and the board’s refusal to meaningfully engage with the issues she put before them.
Kathryn Dalziel. Pool / Iain McGregor / The Press
She said the ERA confirmed the board adopted a “shutdown approach” to Mowat’s concerns that was neither fair, reasonable, nor consistent with an employer’s duty of good faith.
“This decision formally recognises the significant impact these events had on her wellbeing, her reputation, and her ability to work in an environment she had loved and contributed to for 18 years. Suz is relieved that the authority has acknowledged the harm caused and has awarded compensation accordingly.”
She said Mowat hoped the decision would encourage CBHS – and all schools – to reflect carefully on their responsibilities as employers, particularly during periods of conflict or complaint, and to ensure that they had full and accurate records.
“No employee should experience what Susan went through simply for raising concerns in good faith.”
Board chair Emily Flaszynski said it was happy with the ERA’s findings, and was pleased the long-running employment matter had concluded.
She said the authority identified a single procedural issue – that the board didn’t adequately address Mowat’s concerns – but it was pleased no other negative findings were made in relation to how Mowat was treated, nor in relation to Hill.
Flaszynski said the board was now focused on moving forward, and remained committed to the wellbeing of its staff and students and to fair and respectful employment practices.
She acknowledged Hill for his dignity and leadership.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand