But later that month, Te Huia was notified by the police that they intended to move "to a preliminary view of the outcome based on the facts as found by the court."
On October 2, 2017, Te Huia was sent a letter outlining the police's final decision, issuing him a final written warning for three years upon the following conditions:
• Reference to an initial screening and assessment at the drug and alcohol specialist services at the Southland DHB within one month of the date of the letter;
• Take active steps to address the lost trust and confidence as a result of the actions including hui at a local marae;
• Allow Superintendent Basham to speak publically about this decision if he determines it appropriate to do so;
• Standing down from the armed defenders' squad with the ability to reapply after the final warning had expired;
• Ineligibility to receive the competency service increment payment (CSI) until the expiry of the warning;
• Inability to engage in the career progression framework (CPF) until the final warning has expired;
• Inability to relieve any acting Sergeant role without the express authority of the area commander;
• Appointment of a direct supervisor and positioning in that supervisor's section to have oversight of his rehabilitation.
That same day Te Huia's police association representative, Harley Dwyer, emailed the police raising concerns about the 36-month timeframe of the warning and the withholding of three years of CSI payments.
In February 2018, Te Huia filed a statement of problem with the ERA.
On April 11, 2018, Superintendent Paul Anthony Basham reconsidered his decision regarding CSI payments and instead decided Te Huia would be eligible to receive the payments in two years. However, this was still unacceptable to Te Huia, and the ERA forged on to rule in the case.
The authority noted that the loss of three CSI payments was a severe financial penalty of up to $55,000.
The authority said this indicates the disadvantage was not minor and was financially unfair.
In its ruling, the authority determined Te Huia was unjustifiably disadvantaged by the Police's actions in:
• Proposing to permanently withhold multiple competency service payments without any opportunity to correct concerns;
• Removing him from the career progression framework;
• Preventing him from applying to re-join the armed offenders' squad post-October 2017;
• Allowing Superintendent Basham to speak publically about this decision if he determines it appropriate to do so.
However, the authority said he was not disadvantaged by the Police's actions in:
• Imposing a final warning of three years for his conduct if the term was not linked to the additional conditions as set out above;
• Removing a competency service payment for 2018;
• Removing him from the armed offenders' squad.
The authority initially awarded Te Huia $15,000 compensation, however, made a 25 per cent reduction based on the fact that his conduct which led to the final warning was both causative and blameworthy.
