Samantha is a partner and she heads the employment group in Wellington. She has extensive experience in employment law.
She provides advice on a wide range of employment issues, including bargaining, contract drafting, personal grievances, disputes, restraint-of trade-issues, disciplinary matters, human rights, privacy, accident compensation, health and safety, and the Holidays Act. She also provides strategic advice on restructurings and acquisitions. She has advised on a number of cases involving stress, bullying, and incompatibility.
Samantha acts for a number of our key clients in the public and private sectors, including national and international corporate clients, local government, district health boards, Crown entities, and government departments.
She regularly appears before the Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court, and Court of Appeal. She also has mediation experience.
Examples of Work
- Ministry of Social Development - successful defence of claims for breach of contract, discrimination, unjustified disadvantage, and bullying
- Land Transport NZ (and its predecessor, the Land Transport Safety Authority) - successful defence of personal grievance claims in the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court
- Capital Coast District Health Board and Hutt Valley District Health Board - successful defence in the Employment Court and Court of Appeal of claims relating to interpretation of collective employment agreements
- Telecom - successful opposition to raising personal grievances out of time (the first case under the Employment Relations Act on this issue)
- Interested party - investigation of the Public Service's recruitment and employment processes
- Strategic advisor on the negotiation and drafting of collective agreements
- Advice on the implications for employment agreements when state sector agencies merge
- Defence of prosecutions under the Health and Safety in Employment Act
Other Credentials
- Wellington District Law Society Employment Law Committee
- Seminars and conferences hosted by the New Zealand Institute of Safety Management, Independent Schools of New Zealand, Human Resources Institute of New Zealand, Safeguard, Local Government New Zealand, LegalSafe, and BrightStar - Speaker
