Peter de Graaf reports:
The Northland Regional Council breached the Privacy Act when staff accessed text messages sent by the victim of a brutal bleach attack, the Privacy Commissioner has found.
Former council employee Mike Nager was driving to Whangarei in June last year to give evidence in court against two Far North men accused of illegally digging up swamp kauri when he stopped for a car flashing its lights. He was attacked by unknown assailants who threw bleach into his eyes and slashed his face with a knife.
He returned to his job soon afterwards but went on sick leave after getting flashbacks of the attack. He was fired in March after he went public about the council’s refusal to destroy a confidential report it had received in an ACC error.
Mr Nager has since lodged a complaint for unjustified dismissal with the Employment Relations Authority. He also took his concerns about his employer’s actions to the Privacy Commissioner, who has ruled that the council breached the Privacy Act when it accessed text messages sent by Mr Nager in the days following the attack. The council is appealing the Commissioner’s finding.
Read more on The Northern Advocate.