Former Vic Uni lawyer charged in relation to 'insulting and unacceptable' conduct

Dr Sawyer's conduct has been described as "disgraceful". Photo / 123rf

The behaviour of a lawyer who accused a rival of receiving "kickbacks" from a judge who ruled against her has been described as "insulting and unacceptable".

The former Victoria University law lecturer's conduct towards the other lawyer has also been described as "antagonising" by the Employment Court.

Caroline Sawyer has also been charged for abusing the court process arising from her own employment dispute at Victoria University where she made repeated submissions to various courts that were described as a "collateral attack".

"There appears to be a tendency from Dr Sawyer that anyone who disagrees with her, be it the court a judge, or another lawyer, seem to be a part of some sort of conspiracy," Counsel for the New Zealand Law Society, Nikki Pender, told a Tribunal hearing today.

"The behaviour from an objective sense could be seen as disgraceful."

Sawyer neglected to turn up to a hearing about her conduct at the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal. The panel members noted that she had entirely disengaged from the disciplinary process - besides an email to the Tribunal accusing it and the Law Society of a range of money laundering and corruption allegations.

One of her allegations was that the Law Society had made a conscious decision "[to let] the legal system go to pot" and that there had been "a phenomenal corruption of the legal system" and "cascading illegalities" that were "traceable back at least as far as 2004".

The tribunal deals with complaints about the conduct of legal practitioners after the Law Society has charged them with breaches to the rules of the profession.

In this case it has charged Sawyer with misconduct in relation to abusing the court process in regards to her own dealings with the university and for deliberately antagonising two other lawyers while she was acting in opposition to them for clients in employment disputes.

Pender said the Law Society was seeking Sawyer be struck off from practising as a lawyer or at least receive a lengthy suspension.

Nikki Pender said Dr Sawyer's conduct was "delusional" and "disgraceful". Photo / NZLS

The tribunal's chair, Dr John Adams called the two-page email Sawyer had sent in response to her charges "bizarre" and suggested she had developed a "delusional construct about what's going on".

"We wondered if this is perhaps more than poor behaviour, but perhaps straying into cognitive competence," he said.

'Fraud and duress'

Sawyer is a former senior lecturer in law at the Victoria University of Wellington who made a complaint about two other members of the law faculty in 2015 before signing a confidential employment settlement with the university.

However, two years later she took the matter to Employment Relations Authority and claimed the settlement was obtained under "fraud" and "duress" and it should be void so she could apply for constructive dismissal.

Constructive dismissal is defined by Employment NZ as an employer's action or inaction making the situation at work so intolerable for the employee that the employee resigns. It can be subject to a personal grievance.

Caroline Sawyer is a former senior law lecturer at Victoria University. Photo / Supplied

The Employment Relations Authority rejected this claim, finding that the settlement agreement was final and binding.

However, against the terms of that settlement, Sawyer sent five emails to her two former colleagues that were described as "disparaging", and she was ordered to pay $8,500.

"That should have been the end of the dispute," a judgment from the Court of Appeal noted.

Since being rejected by the ERA in 2016, Sawyer appealed against its ruling, which was dismissed. She then applied for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal in 2018 which was also dismissed.

"However, undeterred, Dr Sawyer pursued proceedings in the High Court against the Vice-Chancellor, his lawyer and several other parties," the Court of Appeal said in its most-recent judgment in 2020.

"Dr Sawyer claimed, amongst other things, that the settlement agreement should be set aside as being the product of blackmail, fraudulent misrepresentation and deceit."

All claims against the Vice-Chancellor and his lawyer were struck out in a High Court judgment in 2019 as the judge found that the validity of the settlement agreement could not be challenged and that her subsequent claims constituted an abuse of process of the court.

In 2019 Sawyer sought a judicial review of 10 determinations of the ERA and two decisions of the Employment Court regarding her employment dispute with the University.

This too was dismissed.

Ultimately Sawyer reached the end of the legal road when attempting to have the document she signed in 2014 overturned, with the Court of Appeal striking her claim out.

It described her repeated attempts as a "collateral attack on the final determination of the Employment Court".

'Scandalous, disrespectful and inflammatory'

While she might have exhausted all her legal opportunities, the Law Society have levelled charges against Sawyer for her conduct in relation to the settlement agreement.

It says she breached the terms of the settlement with Victoria University, gave untruthful evidence under oath and repeatedly filed proceedings that were an abuse of process.

However, they also allege she engaged in her own bullying tactics while operating as an employment lawyer where she attempted to discredit opposition lawyers.

According to the charging documents supplied to Open Justice; while acting as an employment lawyer Sawyer repeatedly made allegations of misconduct about other lawyers, academic professionals, members of the judiciary and of the Employment Relations Authority which were without evidence, scandalous, disrespectful and inflammatory and undermined the processes and dignity of the justice system.

In its charges the Law Society said Sawyer had used the law "for the purpose of causing unnecessary embarrassment, distress, or inconvenience to another person's reputation, interests, or occupation."

Those charges arise from an incident in 2018 involving a practising lawyer and a partner at a law firm who was representing a company, while Sawyer was representing a former employee in an employment dispute between the two parties.

The Employment Relations Authority ruled against Sawyer and her client, awarding the company $6000. Sawyer then went on to file documents claiming the other lawyer had received the money as a "kickback" or "collateral reward" and also knowingly assisted in the concealment of fraud.

Dr John Adams chaired the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal today. Photo / Supplied

Through multiple submissions Sawyer alleged there had been a deliberate abuse of the employment relations process and said her client had been deceived into signing something misleading.

She also attempted to have the other lawyer recused from being able to act for his client.

In 2020 the Employment Court found Sawyer's "ongoing antagonism towards counsel and solicitors for the opposing party" was "insulting and unacceptable".

Sawyer also accused a large number of senior lawyers (some of whom are now judges) had enforced illegal contracts, a former law society president of "serious" contract crimes and that the Law Society as a whole was involved in a destructive and embarrassing scam and had taken steps to crush people who resisted it.

More of the charges relate to another incident in 2020 where Sawyer accused another rival lawyer and a member of the Employment Relations Authority of "misconduct" and "unlawful acts" without providing any evidence.

"While engaged in litigation, the practitioner has attacked the reputation of other people without good cause," the Central Standards committee said in its charging documents.
"The practitioner has used, or knowingly assisted in using, the law or legal processes for the purpose of causing unnecessary embarrassment, distress, or inconvenience to another person's reputation, interests, or occupation…"

As for a penalty for Sawyer; The Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal reserved its decision until a later date.

Open Justice could not contact Sawyer for comment and the panel today was told that she may be working in Brussels as a consultant.