National women's refuge body dragged into the personal grievance case of one of its former member organisations
The National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges (NCIWR) has been cleared of legal responsibility for the dismissal of two employees at one of its member organisations.
The Employment Court, in a judgment this month, ruled that the NCIWR had no meaningful role in the decision of the now-liquidated Whare Manaaki Incorporated to let go of Jan Frances Love and Judith Crestani.
Love and Crestani were both key staff members at the Wellington-based facility who were terminated after being accused of misappropriating funds and operating a wellbeing fund without proper authorisation.
They have been holding the NCIWR as a "controlling third party" in their personal grievance proceedings under the Employment Relations Act 2000, which allows claims against third parties who effectively controlled employees' work environments.
Their accusations come after the NCIWR placed Whare Manaaki on notice in April 2024 following concerns about financial management, a failure to meet contractual requirements, and complaints about staff behaviour.
The NCIWR appointed an independent investigator, whose final report substantiated some concerns and recommended a forensic audit of Whare Manaaki's financial records.
The report made no findings of workplace misconduct against Love or Crestani individually, and expressly excluded disciplinary recommendations from its scope.
However,...
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