Much has already been said about the rift between Silver Ferns head coach, Dame Noeline Taurua, and Netball New Zealand (NNZ), as this has been played out in the media. But there remain a number questions from an employment law perspective about how NNZ has handled these issues and whether one of New Zealand’s most respected and successful coaches needed to be treated in this way.
It has been reported that seven Silver Ferns players raised concerns with the New Zealand Netball Players Association over Taurua’s leadership and communication style, saying that they “felt unsafe”, following a team camp in Sydney back in January. The issues were then escalated to NNZ CEO Jennie Wyllie, and the NNZ Board, which launched an investigation. That investigation was led by Brian Stronach, former New Zealand cricket high performance coach.
But it seems that Taurua was not made aware of any of this until after the investigation was completed in June. It also appears that the complainants were assured that their identities would remain confidential and the complaint were made “anonymously”.
This raises the first issue. How can an investigation be fairly conducted when the person who is being investigated does not know anything about it, and therefore presumably has not been given an opportunity to respond to the claims. And even if Taurua had been allowed to participate, how would she be able to respond to complaints of unreasonable conduct without knowing who had made those complaints and what their specific concerns were
Natural justice requires that a person who is facing serious allegations of this nature has the opportunity to respond to them prior to any views being reached as to what occurred. It is difficult to see how a fair process could have been conducted without Taurua’s knowledge or involvement.
Further if the review concluded with findings that were adverse to Taurua, denying her the opportunity to comment on the findings, or engage with them before decisions were made, could undermine the lawfulness of any action taken in reliance on the investigation.
The second issue is why it was necessary to stand Taurua down, some eight months after the incident occurred and several months after she was advised of the investigation outcome. It has been reported that Taurua and NNZ had been engaged in discussions about making changes to the Silver Fern's environment, but no pathway forward had been agreed. Nonetheless, was “suspension” necessary and justifiable?
It seems that the pressure of the impasse and the upcoming Taini Jameson series against South Africa was the impetuous for the decision to stand Taurua (and her coaching staff) down.
If challenged, this may not hold up as legally justifiable reason for suspension given that Taurua has been allowed to continue in her role for the past eight months. In this regard, if the issues raised by the players were so serious, or her presence posed such a risk to the team environment, why was Taurua not stood down immediately? The fact that she was not could potentially undermine the perceived seriousness of the allegations and the need for suspension.
The fact of not being able to reach an agreed way forward, following an investigation, would not generally be a good reason for standing an employee down. Admittedly this case is unusual because the tension this created could potentially spill over into player – coach relationships and impact on performance.
Third, whilst there was inevitably always going to be a high level of public interest, there are questions about NNZ’s handling of the media response and whether this has created a situation where Taurua could not return to her role, even if the allegations were found not to be sufficiently serious to warrant dismissal. For example, it may have been less damaging to issue a joint statement saying both parties had agreed that Taurua would stand aside whilst some issues were being dealt with in the interests of the team and to ensure that there was less distraction leading into the series with South Africa.
The general feeling is that Taurua has coached her last game with the team, not least of all because of the public fall out and impact on her reputation, mana and employment relationship with NNZ. If NNZ was found to have exacerbated this, it could potentially give rise to a claim of constructive dismissal.
Netball in New Zealand is already facing significant challenges, including uncertainty around the ANZ Premiership and the loss of key players to Australia. The last thing the sport needs is a high profile employment dispute between NNZ and one of its most respected and revered coaches. It would be wise for both parties to continue to explore an agreed way forward which minimises further damage and public embarrassment.
Originally published in The Post.
