A veteran Oranga Tamariki manager with nearly 30 years’ service has been found to have bullied and belittled her staff, at one point calling a crying supervisor a “sookie baby” and telling her to put her “big girl panties on”.

Now the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ruled the organisation’s decision to demote her and issue a final warning was justified.

The manager, known as GYN in the decision, had worked for Oranga Tamariki for 29 years, including as a social worker and, more recently, as site manager overseeing a team of supervisors and a practice leader.

In March 2023, three supervisors approached the acting site manager while the woman was on annual leave.

Each raised concerns which described a pattern of bullying and belittling or dismissive behaviour.

The supervisors alleged the manager mocked a distressed staff member, calling her a “sookie baby” telling her to “suck it up” and put her “big girl panties on”. She also joked about throwing a box of tissues at her while she cried.

On other occasions it was alleged the manager used derogatory language such as “f***ers”, publicly criticised staff in the office, rolled her eyes in meetings and created an “us and them” culture within the leadership team.

They also said she commented on a supervisor’s weight in front of colleagues and held “separate meetings” that excluded certain supervisors, which were gossip sessions.

All three expressed the fear of “backlash” or being the focus of bullying if they spoke up.

The organisation also received three complaints from Māori service providers that she had acted in a way that undermined Māori culture.

She had also made comments that a person higher up had only got a position “because they were Māori”.

Formal complaints were laid and human resources staff were brought in to investigate.

At their disciplinary meeting, the woman said she was shocked over the allegations.

She accepted some behaviour, including using the term “f***ers” in frustration.

She denied other comments but conceded she could not be certain she had not said them.

The organisation found the woman had behaved in an undermining, bullying and harassing manner toward staff, and concluded the behaviour amounted to serious misconduct.

Allegations of cultural disrespect were not upheld.

Oranga Tamariki issued a final written warning and demoted her to a social worker, at her request, with salary protection.

The woman took her case to the ERA claiming unjustified disadvantage.

The woman appealed its decision to the ERA, claiming she was unjustifiably disadvantaged.

In a recent decision, authority member Davinnia Tan found Oranga Tamariki’s process was fair and the woman had full disclosure, representation and multiple opportunities to respond.

“Bullying is a serious issue, and while it may not always amount to serious misconduct in every case, I find that when the substantiated allegations are weighed against GYN’s responsibilities as a site manager, coupled with the strong values of the organisation directly applicable to GYN’s leadership role ... the finding of serious misconduct is undeniably within the range of findings a fair and reasonable employer could make,” Tan said.

“When I step back and assess the process in its entirety, I find that Oranga Tamariki met its obligations.

“Oranga Tamariki’s process fell within the range of what a fair and reasonable employer could do in all the circumstances.”

The authority ruled the woman’s claims were unsuccessful and no orders were made.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.