An Employment Relations Authority hearing turned degenerated into a personal tirade, when the partner of dismissed Idea Services Southland area manager William Stuart Clark verbally attacked a witness.
The authority had just adjourned when Karen Carter abused Jenny Leonard, an Idea Services employee, for expressing doubts as to whether Mr Clark could be reinstated to his job, overseeing services to the intellectually disabled.
Idea Services counsel Paul McBride strongly complained about the attack, which he said had caused Ms Leonard "considerable distress" and constituted contempt.
Ms Carter was sternly warned by authority member Paul Montgomery.
The fact Ms Leonard had already given her evidence, and that Ms Carter had taken his warning seriously, meant a letter of apology to Ms Leonard and to the authority would be an adequate resolution, Mr Montgomery said.
Mr Clark, also known as Nobby, was suspended, then dismissed from his position at the intellectual disability services organisation last year for making derogatory remarks about senior managers and pitching junior staff against their seniors.
He was said to have referred to a senior manager as a "like a witch", "my mistress" and "she who must be obeyed".
Complaints were also received about him from clients, the organisation's ACC manager, the Ministry of Health and a service user who claimed she had been sexually abused in one of Idea's houses.
Mr Clark said the investigation into his conduct had been unfair and, while he acknowledged he had made errors, he had learned from them and they would not be repeated.
He sought reinstatement, remuneration for lost wages and compensation for hurt, humiliation and loss.
But Mr Montgomery ruled that Idea Services had conducted a fair investigation and his dismissal was justified.
He criticised Mr Clark for failing to observe, and at times circumventing, the organisation's policies and procedures.
