Law firms routinely advise clients about workplace conflict. Occasionally they provide the case study themselves.
Senior solicitor Geetha Arunthayaparan claimed she had been bullied and effectively forced out of an Auckland law firm following a deteriorating workplace relationship that included an incident in which a partner allegedly threw a pen during an argument.
The dispute ultimately reached the Employment Relations Authority, where Arunthayaparan advanced claims arising from her treatment and departure. The Authority dismissed her claims, according to a Stuff report on the case.
The significance lies less in the flying stationery than in the familiar difficulty of turning an unpleasant workplace into a successful employment claim. A relationship may be fractious, uncomfortable or even described by those involved as “toxic” without necessarily satisfying the legal requirements for an actionable personal grievance.
Employment New Zealand confirms that workplace bullying and harassment can form the basis of a personal grievance, while WorkSafe notes that repeated verbal or emotional attacks may engage an employer’s good-faith obligations. But allegations still have to be established on the evidence.
Arunthayaparan has since established Anchor Legal, and the New Zealand Law Society register identifies her as a director of the Auckland firm.
For law firms, the case offers a less glamorous reminder that lawyers are not mysteriously immune from the employment disputes they spend their professional lives telling everyone else how to avoid.
Sometimes even the people who know the rules end up arguing over who crossed the line.
