Employment Relation Authority orders CAA to reinstate sacked crash investigator Siobhan Mandich
The CAA has been ordered to reinstate Siobhan Mandich to its payroll by the Employment Relations Authority.
A Civil Aviation Authority investigator who claimed she was unfairly sacked and targeted in a “retaliatory” manner by her employer has won a legal case.
Siobhan Mandich, a safety investigator who attended aviation crash sites for more than a decade, took the CAA to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) after she was dismissed on February 4 this year.
In a decision released Friday, the CAA has been ordered to reinstate Mandich to its payroll after finding she had an arguable case for unjustified dismissal.
Before being dismissed, Mandich complained about workplace safety issues and bullying by managers, according to the ERA’s ruling.
The ERA’s decision means Mandich will be paid her salary from the date her employment was terminated, but given the relationship breakdown, she won’t physically work at the CAA’s Wellington office.
The ERA’s ruling included allegations by Mandich that a manager covertly recorded a conversation the pair had, that her privacy was breached when a colleague was included in communications about her being stood down, and that the CAA failed to address her concerns about bullying in the workplace.
Mandich told the ERA that after she raised bullying concerns internally, she was “disadvantaged by a number of CAA’s unreasonable decisions and actions that were retaliatory in nature”.
Mandich said this included “counter complaints” being made about her conduct – claims that were never investigated as those complaining didn’t consent to giving Mandich copies of their complaints.
The CAA argued the decision to terminate Mandich’s employment on the basis of “incompatibility” was based on a “careful assessment”, was not rushed and followed a fair and reasonable process.
“CAA say Ms Mandich could not let go of historical concerns that had been addressed,” the ERA’s ruling said.
However, Mandich’s evidence to the authority was that her dismissal was “procedurally and substantively unjustified”.
“From late 2024 she became increasingly concerned by what she says was CAA’s unreasonable actions towards her including privacy breaches, suspension from duties, removal of entitlements and retaliatory complaints raised against her,” the authority’s ruling said.
Mandich became concerned about her safety at work after two senior leaders were linked to bullying allegations in media reports, the ruling said.
In August 2024, a Herald investigation revealed claims about a toxic workplace at the CAA, complaints not being addressed, and concerns about the agency shifting from a safety regulator to one that was more focused on enforcement and prosecutions.
The Herald spoke to seven sources as part of its investigation, comprising current and former CAA staff.
The CAA told the ERA that Mandich was never bullied or mistreated by managers identified in media reporting, her allegations were investigated and it was found there was “nothing to substantiate them”.
“Regardless of that finding CAA points out Ms Mandich continued to make allegations up until the point of termination,” the ruling said.
The ongoing complaints about managers were a key reason the CAA decided to dismiss Mandich, according to the ERA.
The CAA claimed if Mandich was fully reinstated and started working for it again, some staff might resign because they couldn’t work with her, and her returning to the workplace was deemed “untenable”.
However, Mandich argued the CAA had not established any misconduct on her part.
The ERA agreed Mandich did have an “arguable case” for unjustified dismissal - a matter which will be tested at another hearing.
“Ms Mandich’s employment was terminated on the grounds of incompatibility, and she says no full and fair investigation was undertaken into the matters said to have underpinned that conclusion,” the ERA ruling said.
The ERA’s ruling also revealed Mandich commissioned an independent workplace review, which verified safety concerns but this “was not taken into consideration by CAA”.
The ruling does not detail who received a copy of the critical workplace review, or what happened after the information was received.
There is also disagreement over whether proper process was followed when the CAA decided to sack Mandich.
Mandich’s employment was terminated by the CAA’s former director and CEO Keith Manch, who the authority said finalised the decision after he’d stepped down as CEO but remained in a fixed-term transitional role.
Mandich told the ERA that Manch didn’t have authority to make the call to sack her given he’d left the top job, but this element of the case is yet to be determined.
While the ERA decided Mandich should be reinstated to the payroll, another substantive hearing - which is yet to be scheduled - will test the evidence relating to whether Mandich’s dismissal was indeed unjustified.
The Herald sought comment from the CAA on the ERA’s decision, and a spokeswoman said, “as with all employment matters, we’re not in a position to comment on specific details”.
Mandich declined to comment when approached by the Herald.
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.