25/11/2022
Kia ora tātou,
CONTENT WARNING: Sexual misconduct
The Equity Council met on Tuesday to discuss the recent findings of misconduct by a senior consultant whilst working at Anderson Lloyd and Duncan Cotterill in Christchurch.
The Equity Council highly condemns these actions and has zero tolerance for misconduct of any kind. We expect all employers to promote a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment especially for law students entering an often new and unfamiliar territory.
We also believe these findings are symptomatic of a wider cultural issue within the legal industry. We are working on an action plan to ensure employers have the appropriate safeguards and processes necessary to prevent and deal with incidents of misconduct in the workplace. This will form part of a wider discussion with the student body in the form of the Russell McVeagh hui early next year, in which we endeavour to develop a formal process for dealing with incidents of misconduct as they occur.
In the meantime, if you have any thoughts or concerns about these issues, please voice them in the attached Russell McVeagh hui form or reach out to us directly: https://forms.gle/DLHN8x117LSf9iuq6
If you need to talk to someone please reach out to the below support services:
For University Support:
Law School Equity Officers: [email protected] | Building 801-201
University Health and Counseling Services: [email protected] | 0800 698 427
Career Development and Employer Engagement Manager, Kylie Chye: [email protected]
Student Academic Development and Engagement Manager (Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes), Suranjika Tittawella: [email protected]
Associate Dean (Equity), Nikki Chamberlain: [email protected]
Within Firms:
Feel free to reach out to your HR Department if you are ever feeling unsafe or uncomfortable at work.
For crisis counselling:
24/7 HELPline (Help Auckland) (for victims of sexual abuse): 0800 623 1700
Crisis counselling service, South Auckland: 0800 545 354
Helpline: 0800 173 7173
Shine (for victims of domestic violence): 0508 744 633
For longer term counselling: Consult ACC list of counsellors that are registered for sensitive claims counselling found here at: https://www.findsupport.co.nz/find-a-therapist/
Ngā mihi,
Your Equity Council
TW: mentions of sexual harms, in particular the sexual misconduct occurring at major law firms such as Russell McVeagh In 2018, serious allegations of sexual misconduct were made against a Russell McVeagh partner, resulting in the firm's removal from most law campuses around Aotearoa New Zealand. Th...