Corrections staffer suspended after sexual harassment allegation

Another Corrections staffer has been suspended following an allegation of sexual harassment.

In response to questions from RNZ, Corrections deputy chief executive people and capability Rebecca Powell confirmed a staff member within Pae Ora at Mt Eden prison had been suspended following an allegation of sexual harassment.

RNZ earlier revealed two senior staff who also work in the Pae Ora team at Mt Eden prison were under investigation.

One was placed on alternative duties outside of the workplace following an allegation of sexual harassment.

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The other had been suspended following allegations from multiple internal and external sources of bullying and harassment.

Pae Ora is in charge of prisoner health and rehab services.

In response to questions about the third staffer from the team being under investigation, Powell said it was Corrections' "clear expectation" that staff "uphold the standards of behaviour in our Code of Conduct and comply with the law".

"Approximately 50 staff are employed within the Pae Ora team at Mt Eden Corrections Facility.

"We are committed to ensuring that they have a safe working environment and I have contacted the General Manager to offer our support with the delivery of training to staff on site to support their awareness."

In June 2024, Corrections commissioned an independent review relating to sexual harassment to support the safety of staff and improve workplace culture by preventing harm.

"All of the recommendations of the review were accepted by Corrections and are being implemented as part of our plan to eliminate sexual harassment," Powell said.

"The purpose of this work is to ensure Corrections staff understand what sexual harassment is and have the capability and confidence to intervene when they see it happening."

Powell said Corrections had made a number of changes as a result of this work including releasing a refreshed Code of Conduct, developing and launching two workshops, and a "high profile awareness campaign" to make clear that sexual harassment was not tolerated at Corrections.

'Assurance checks'

RNZ earlier revealed Corrections carried out "assurance checks" of staff access to HR records, as well as an IT search, after concerns were raised that personal information may have been leaked to the media.

The checks followed a series of articles by RNZ in relation to allegations against five senior staff at the department.

Powell earlier said the department had a "duty of care" to ensure private information about staff was managed in accordance with the Privacy Act and that staff knew they could raise any concerns in confidence.

"In recent months, we have had concerns raised by some complainants that their personal information has been the subject of media queries."

Other staff have also expressed concerns about the sharing of their and other's private employment information.

"In order to provide assurance to impacted staff that we had managed their personal information appropriately, we carried out checks to ensure that only authorised staff had access to our HR records and completed an IT search to confirm that no personal information had been inappropriately distributed externally, with nothing found."

Asked if the work undertaken was an investigation, Corrections said it would describe it as "assurance checks, not an investigation".