• Simon Mutonhori was justifiably sacked by Wairoa District Council after dismissing requests as “trivial”.
• Mutonhori’s actions risked the council’s IANZ accreditation and led to $1400 in unnecessary costs.
• Employment Court Judge Joanna Holden upheld Mutonhori’s dismissal and ordered him to pay costs.

A former manager was justifiably sacked by the Wairoa District Council after persistently dismissing his bosses’ requests as “trivial”.

A decision from the Employment Court shows Simon Mutonhori unsuccessfully challenged a determination and has been ordered to pay costs.

Mutonhori worked for the council between February 2020 and his dismissal on August 3, 2022.

After he was sacked, he stood for the Wairoa mayoralty, winning 437 votes or about 15% of those cast. Craig Little was re-elected mayor with 1486 votes.

In 2022, several issues arose with respect to Mutonhori’s employment including his refusal to co-operate with senior council staff over the use of a pool car, according to the Employment Court decision.

He was advised the pool car appeared to have been used for trips that had private benefit and asked to provide an explanation but continued to maintain that there was nothing in his employment agreement that required him to do so.

The matter was sent to the senior financial accountant, the chief financial officer and chief executive officer and still nothing was received from Mutonhori.

The chief financial officer gave evidence that the lack of a response from Mutonhori placed the council at some risk and created $1400 of unnecessary cost in tax compliance.

The chief financial officer also raised concerns about Mutonhori’s reportedly inappropriate behaviour towards the senior financial accountant, including comments along the lines of “I do not have to listen to you”.

As a group manager for planning and regulatory services Mutonhori was responsible for compliance matters.

Concerns were raised with the council about a number of non-compliance issues detected during an audit of its building consent functions by International Assessment New Zealand (IANZ).

The Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment raised concerns about the audit, noting a high number of non-compliance matters.

It was found Mutonhori was dismissive of a number of the compliance issues, regarding them as “trivial and not worth worrying about”.

Mutonhori was spoken to and asked to adjust his communication style, including his use of words such as “trivial”.

It was then found Mutonhori had continued to maintain his stance, directing his team not to be wasting time submitting response to matters that he thought were “trivial”.

The team said they were concerned about the council losing its IANZ accreditation, and that they had lost confidence in Mutonhori and did not know what to do.

Another manager was then directed to take responsibility but said they did not want to work with Mutonhori who was advised of the situation and potential serious conduct of his behalf for failure to follow instruction, placing the council’s IANZ accreditation at risk, loss of confidence from the mayor and elected members, and feedback from staff.

After Mutonhori received the letter, he forwarded it to all regulatory staff which raised more concerns with management.

The accusations continued as Mutonhori was understood to have accessed personal remuneration information of another staff member and shown it to somebody else.

By that stage the council said it had an “avalanche” of issues involving Mutonhori and he was consequently suspended with pay.

Mutonhori then told senior staff and officers of the council, including the mayor and elected members, that the process being followed was “flawed and a sham, and that it included vexatious, frivolous and baseless allegations of misconduct against him”.

He accused the chief executive of blackmailing and bullying him and made other allegations about him, including that he had predetermined the outcome of the process.

Mutonhori advised that he would be raising and pursuing a personal grievance against the chief executive.

The chief executive considered that sending that email as widely as Mutonhori did, including to the mayor and elected members, was completely inappropriate.

Mutonhori attended “a professional development study tour to Texas”, despite being advised by the council's chief executive not to go.

Mutonhori then applied for three weeks’ study leave, to attend “a professional development study tour to Texas”, part of an overseas manager exchange programme that had been agreed to in December 2020.

He was advised leave had not been approved and that if he took the trip, it would not be regarded as a council trip. Notwithstanding the advice, Mutonhori undertook the study tour to Texas.

A meeting was then held between Mutonhori and the chief executive where Mutonhori chose not to respond to the allegations. It was followed by a letter outlining the finding and tentative determinations.

Despite being advised that the employment-related process was a confidential one between the chief executive as his employer and himself, Mutonhori reacted by texting the mayor.

On learning of this, the chief executive advised Mutonhori that he would also take the text into account when weighing up matters relating to trust and confidence. Mutonhori did not respond and was consequently sacked.

Employment Court Judge Joanna Holden said Mutonhori’s suspension was justifiable as was his dismissal.

Judge Holden said the council had been successful in its defence of Mutonhori’s challenges and was entitled to costs.

The Wairoa District Council had no comment to make on the matter.

Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the HC Post, based in Whangamata. He was previously deputy editor of Cook Islands News.