A police recruit wrongly accused of groping a colleague has been awarded $6,000 compensation after the Employment Relations Authority found police failed to consult with him before suspending him and did not clearly communicate the investigation process.
The recruit, just days from graduating, was suspended, marched off campus, and reassigned to traffic camera duties while criminal and employment investigations ran sequentially.
He was later cleared of wrongdoing but said the suspension left him blindsided, humiliated, and anxious about his career.
Authority member Rowan Anderson ruled police’s actions were procedurally unfair, though not excessively lengthy or unreasonable in duty reassignment. The recruit has since graduated and now serves as a constable.
Unfounded accusations are all too common. The notion prosecution of false accusations could stop people coming forward is outdated in a gender neutral world. Such complaints are just as serious. Arguably more damaging as it destroys careers, family, relationships and ofden led to violence, murder and suicide.
Ifs someone shafted me like that, I wouldn’t want to offer them my efforts and skills thereafter. Its all too easy to accuse men of this kind of thing, too. The law needs to change to balance rights with actual evidence.
I was a victim of that. Costs nearly sent me bankrupt. Not guilty and hugs from the jury did not get my job, home, some friends, and wife back.
Perjury is never applied to women.
Men do not want to go their own way. Men of all ages are fully aware of the 36 month end game. Today they have a choice to accept liability, lost of property, money reputation, ongoing costs, legal fees, false imprisonment or a peaceful well-to-do life. Sadly, the latter is the better choice.
The even division of property was created in a time when women did not work. Today they run medical, education, and government administration. They can fully support themselves after separation.
Now we know naught cops sit on speed camera duty.