Hawkesby on Prozac during TVNZ fiasco

By LOUISA CLEAVE

A decision to award John Hawkesby $5.25 million came after a medical illness for which he was taking anti-depressant drugs, including Prozac.

An arbitrator's ruling in the case between Television New Zealand and its former newsreader was made public yesterday by a High Court judge who said there was "serious public interest" in the documents.

The figure comes with interest of 8 per cent between last March and December, bringing the amount TVNZ was told to pay Hawkesby to $5.57 million.

TVNZ is appealing against the amount but now faces tough questions from the Prime Minister over the "fiasco" surrounding the settlement.

Helen Clark said the TVNZ board would be called to account by the Government.

"The public, which after all owns TVNZ, is now entitled to a full explanation of the events which culminated in the awarding of this settlement. Millions of dollars have gone up in smoke in the settlement, and now more will be spent on legal fees and public relations smokescreens," she said.

TVNZ told arbitrator Sir David Tompkins, QC, it had sacked Hawkesby because his non-performance at the network constituted serious misconduct or gross incompetence.

Hawkesby argued it was wrongful termination and in breach of his contract.

Sir David said that as a result of the sacking, Hawkesby had suffered damage to his reputation and was no longer employable in New Zealand as a newsreader.

He said: "I consider that Mr Hawkesby's inability to perform to the level expected was largely due to the medical condition from which he was suffering, and the medication he was receiving for it."

Justice Robertson indicated that TVNZ might have to pay a quarter of the money pending the appeal hearing, likely to be next month.

This will be discussed next Monday.

Justice Robertson did not release documents which included evidence given at the arbitration hearing.

However, Sir David's decision and the evidence he based it on, paints a picture of Hawkesby as a man who was wooed to TVNZ with a $750,000-a-year salary - rising to $850,000 in 2004 - then fell into depression because of public backlash to his replacing of Richard Long as co-anchor to Judy Bailey on One Network News.

It maps out the sequence of events from the day Hawkesby walked from his job at TV3 and was contacted by then-head of television at TVNZ, Neil Roberts.

But, according to the evidence, the next month of discussions took place between Hawkesby and "senior TVNZ executives involved in the One Network News programme."

TVNZ and Hawkesby reached an agreement on November 2, 1998, and the state-owned broadcaster paid him $320,625 for lost wages since leaving TV3. It also paid Hawkesby's legal costs.

Hawkesby began reading the 6 pm news on January 18, with his contract setting out that his hours of work be 1.30 pm to 7.30 pm "or thereabouts," 223 days a year.

Eleven days later, Hawkesby went to his doctor with symptoms which were "evidence of a depressive illness of the reactive type brought on by his work situation."

By February 10, Hawkesby was under a great deal of stress and his doctor arranged for him to see a psychiatrist who on top of Prozac, prescribed Prothiedine, an anti-depressant drug which can cause dry mouth, tremors, headaches and sedation.

Hawkesby's on-air performances were described at the hearing as "wooden" by TV One boss Shaun Brown and head of news and current affairs Paul Cutler.

But expert testimony on behalf of Hawkesby from academic Joe Atkinson said the newsreader was "superior" to Richard Long and TV3's John Campbell.

Sir David said TVNZ had failed to prove Hawkesby's on-air performance meant he was guilty of serious incompetence but he found Hawkesby guilty of serious incompetence for his off-air work.

Sir David said he accepted evidence from TVNZ that Hawkesby had not participated in editorial meetings, could not handle the computer system and had a general attitude and demeanour which meant others in the newsroom found it difficult to work with him.

However, he did not consider this had the potential to affect the business of TVNZ.

On February 24 - 37 days after Hawkesby had first taken his seat beside Judy Bailey - he received a visit at home from Mr Cutler and Mr Brown, who told Hawkesby he would no longer be required to present One Network News.

Sir David concluded that he was satisfied Hawkesby's illness would have lasted only some weeks and was unlikely to significantly affect the One Network News ratings.