$65k payout for beaten prison guard
A former Otago prison guard who was beaten unconscious by an inmate and suffered years of severe post-traumatic distress will receive an increased payout of $65,000 from his former employer.
The Employment Court made the revised order for a breach of contract by the Department of Corrections on April 17.
In a 2018 ruling the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found the department failed to take practical steps to stop the assault and help the guard deal with the mental issues he suffered as a result.
At that time the authority ordered a payment of $30,000 in compensation but this was found to be an error after a challenge by the man’s legal team.
This month’s payment order is the final chapter in an eight-year ordeal for the former guard. When the assault took place in a high-security unit of the Otago Corrections Facility on June 12, 2012, he had been working as a Corrections officer for eight years.
He was sitting down when an inmate punched him from behind with such force he was knocked unconscious.
Nine days later he was back at work. But his work life deteriorated quickly.
Uncharacteristically he took numerous sick days, had trouble sleeping, and could not cope with any threat of violence. Transfers to other prison units did not help.
He was offered counselling over a year later but that also didn’t help. His work relationships continued to deteriorate and in early 2015 he was ordered to attend a medical assessment. His doctor put in a claim for ACC cover and compensation for posttraumatic stress disorder. The claim was declined by a Corrections claims manager.
The officer was devastated by the decision. He attempted suicide four times and spent a month at Wakari Hospital. He later accepted an offer of medical retirement, having been deemed unfit to return to work.
Following a review of the ACC decision, the claim for weekly compensation was reinstated and back-paid in January 2016.
The ERA found that in failing to offer counselling when the man returned to work, the department had breached its own policy.