Senior detective alleged a 'boys' club' within Northland's Criminal Investigation Branch
A senior detective who alleged she was worn down by a "boys' club" culture in Northland's Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) has been awarded $15,000 after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found she was subjected to "upward" bullying and let down by a flawed internal response.
The detective, a veteran officer of more than 30 years and at the time the only female CIB detective inspector in the district, alleged that bullying, abusive conduct, and gendered behaviour were "a known risk for women in Northland Police" and that her appointment into that environment left her exposed.
She pointed to a series of incidents between 2020 and 2023 – including a controversial initiation ceremony at a Christmas function, disparaging remarks, rumours, exclusion from events and decision‑making, and undermining interactions with senior sergeants – as evidence of an entrenched "boys' club" and a failure to protect her.
The decisive issue in the case was an email sent in February 2023 by a detective senior sergeant to several colleagues, shortly after the detective was appointed acting crime manager.
The message, later described by her as a concerted attack on her leadership and character, was not initially shown to her; she was instead asked to accept an apology without seeing the full content.
When she eventually obtained the email in October 2023, she raised a formal grievance.
Was she unjustifiably disadvantaged?
The Authority accepted there were "challenging" cultural issues and a workplace made up of "strong personalities" that did not always see eye to eye, leading to incompatibility within the CIB leadership team.
The ERA, however, did not uphold most of her wider claims, finding many of the historic incidents were raised out of time under the 90‑day personal grievance rules or were not proved, on the evidence, to be unjustifiable actions by Police.
But the ERA criticised the internal process that followed the decisive email incident in February, finding it seriously deficient.
The ruling found that the senior officer tasked with managing the matter was not given key background. This included an earlier, "unprofessional" email from the same senior sergeant in August 2022 and growing concerns about a pattern of undermining behaviour and private group chats among senior sergeants.
The Authority held that Police "failed to adequately investigate the matter." It also failed "to engage with [the detective] to see what support or redress she may have needed to cope with the matter."
"[The detective] was successful with her unjustified disadvantage claim by Police failing to adequately investigate the February 2023 email and failing to take remedial action or provide adequate support to [the detective] in the aftermath of the matter and as such she is entitled to a consideration of the remedies sought," the ERA said.
"I also find Police breached [the detective's] employment agreement in failing to adequately act in good faith and appropriately investigate the matter and breached their health and safety obligations failing to take remedial action to support [the detective]."
The legal finding also accepted there was a pattern of upward bullying around the detective, particularly in the August 2022 email, the February 2023 email, and later text messages involving senior sergeants.
"The behaviour was repeated and directed towards [the detective]," the ERA said.
"Police were aware of the behaviour and the previous email. [The detective] is successful in her claim that she was upwardly bullied at work by subordinate Police officers."
