Why are these professional bodies so spineless?

I get to see how our work has a real-world impact on individuals’ lives every day. We’ve taken on three new cases where individuals are under fire for simply expressing their opinions, and we’re going into bat for them.

Teacher notified by Teaching Council for complaint about her opinion

One of our members, a primary school teacher, got in touch with us about an alert she received from the Teaching Council. Over what? A Facebook comment, of course.

She disagreed that the Teaching Council had submitted on behalf of all teachers in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill and expressed her views on education in the comments section of a New Zealand First video on Facebook, and noted that all students deserve to be treated equally.

A member of the public reported her to the Teaching Council. Their claim? The teacher allegedly violated the Code of Conduct, specifically manaakitanga: creating a welcoming, caring, and creative learning environment. 
 
We’ve contacted the Teaching Council, making it clear there’s nothing to investigate - just an individual expressing their views. We await a response. 
 
Why has the Teaching Council bowed to pressure from a bully, again?

Complaints made over social media activity of two nurses

Robert Laroche 

Robert is a nurse with over 45 years of experience, and a background in psychiatric and mental health. He had a complaint made against him by a junior doctor who is a member of the Medical Council over content he reposted on Facebook over the past four years that was critical of the COVID-19 vaccine. 
 
The complainant said he was concerned Robert was “spreading conspiracy theories, misinformation, disinformation and propaganda”. 
 
Instead of acknowledging Robert is free to share this content on his personal social media, the Nursing Council referred his case to the Professional Conduct Committee.

From here, Robert is waiting for his meeting with the Professional Conduct Committee to determine whether the complaint will go to Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. If it does, the Tribunal will determine if the alleged conduct is proven and amounts to professional misconduct and decide on any penalties.  
 
Remember: This is over reposting content on his personal Facebook page. If others disagree with what Robert shared, they could tell him that and engage in discussion and debate. But why, after more than 45 years of being a Registered Nurse, is Robert being raked over the coals for a few posts?  

Catherine Simpson 
 
Catherine is a nurse who enjoys sharing her opinions on X. She’s also had the Nursing Council investigating her after someone complained about content she posted online. This included posts skeptical of the COVID-19 vaccine, incorrect facts about abortion laws in New Zealand, uncomplimentary statements about Rawiri Waititi, and reference to conspiracy theories. 

This complaint hasn't been referred to the Professional Conduct Committee yet, but if past cases are anything to go by, it's only a matter of time. 
 
And just to add insult to injury, if the nurses mentioned above are found ‘guilty’, these nurses potentially face penalties worth thousands of dollars, and that’s not including their legal fees. 
 
It’s clear to me that the complaints against people like Robert and Catherine aren’t really about concern for those in their care. These complainants have seen the Nursing Council bow to the pressure of bullies, and they’ve seen it as an opportunity to go after professionals’ views.  
 
It’s a pattern of behaviour that we see repeating because professional bodies like the Teaching Council and the Nursing Council are spineless. 
 
Some self-professed internet warriors have decided what is and isn’t acceptable to express, and these professional bodies are letting themselves be pushed around. 

As well as taking on these new cases, we haven’t forgotten about others we’re still juggling: 
 
In the past week, we filed an application for leave to intervene in real estate agent Janet Dickson’s appeal with the Court of Appeal, after the High Court ruled that freedom of expression was irrelevant to her case. This is wrong, and inconsistent with our law, and we will keep playing our part in defending Janet’s speech rights along with all professionals.  
 
We’re still in Court with Lucy Rogers who was unlawfully arrested when peacefully protesting. Despite the Independent Police Conduct Authority’s damning report of the arrest, the Police are standing firm, and haven’t offered to settle the matter.

Next month, we’re meeting with the Minister of Justice to discuss the Harmful Digital Communications Act; we plan to undertake a thorough review of the Act and how it has been applied. 

And we have over a dozen other cases where your support means we can stand with these Kiwi’s right to speak.

If we didn’t have over 100,000 Kiwis backing us, what would happen to individuals mentioned? And what would the implications be on their entire professions? 
 
These complaint processes themselves are punishment for holding opinions, so how many Kiwis are walking around on eggshells, keeping their thoughts to themselves?  

A threatened income is a pretty good reason to keep your mouth shut on issues, and the bullies know it. How many discussions and debates are we missing out on because of this fear? Don’t get me wrong, the fear is entirely understandable, but we’ve got to get to the root cause.  
 
That’s why we’re fighting back. No one should have to choose between their income and their voice.  

Hannah Clow | Senior In-House Legal Counsel

PS. We've taken on three new cases defending the rights of a teacher and two nurses who are unjustly under fire for expressing their opinions online. This is on top of our busy case load defending the rights of people like you and me to speak freely. Wanna chip in to make this work possible?