Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles' case against Auckland University continues

Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles is continuing with legal action against her university, while another Covid expert has left his faculty role and is no longer part of proceedings. Photo / Sarah Ivey

One of New Zealand's best-known scientists is pushing on with legal action against the University of Auckland, while another prominent Covid-19 expert has left his faculty role and is no longer part of proceedings.

Last year, microbiologist Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles and physicist and modeller Professor Shaun Hendy filed complaints against the university, arguing their employer hadn't taken enough steps to protect them against "a small but venomous sector of the public" that had become increasingly "unhinged".

The Employment Relations Authority agreed that a review of their concerns should be expedited - skipping the authority's sometimes lengthy investigative process and instead going directly to the Employment Court, despite objections from the university.

The same ruling also ordered the university to pay the legal fees of the professors, who have been among our most visible scientists throughout the pandemic.

This week, Wiles' lawyer Catherine Stewart confirmed her client was continuing with her case through the Employment Court.

"At present we are in the process of working through preliminary matters, prior to the matter being set down for a hearing," she said.

"I am not able to comment further at this stage owing to the fact that the matter is before the courts."

She also confirmed that Hendy's dispute with the university was resolved and that he had left the institution to pursue other opportunities.

Hendy, whose data-modelling expertise has been credited with having influenced the nation's Covid-19 response, and now fully based with independent agency Toha Science, declined to comment on the matter.

A university spokesperson told the Herald: "The university cannot comment on this for reasons of privacy and because this is a case before the courts."

Wiles, a science communicator who was named the 2021 New Zealander of the Year in part for helping to "make the science of the pandemic clear and understandable", first filed complaints with Hendy last July.

Both experts said they'd been raising concerns about their safety and have been requesting the university to help protect them since April 2020, shortly after the pandemic began.

The university, they argued at the time, had either responded inadequately or not at all.

In the months following the initial complaints, the university ordered an external security review which found "opportunities for improvement" regarding the professors' digital and physical security.

But the university's timeframe for implementing the suggestions was staggered throughout 2022, the academics noted at the time, adding that they couldn't wait a year.

The ERA eventually agreed that the matter should be decided sooner rather than later.