Nic Hill's Evidence (Part One): The Susan Mowat v Boys' High Employment Case

28 April 2025. The New Zealand Reporter: Part 1 of 2 parts.

Pictured (left to right): Board chair Michael Singleton, lawyer AJ Lodge, and principal Nic Hill prior to giving evidence. On the right are Susan Mowat’s counsel Emma Gunn and Kathryn Dalziel. Susan and Richard Mowat are just off camera.

With the conclusion of school board chair Michael Singleton's evidence, former member Mike Medlicott took his turn in the hot seat.

He had little to add.

Medlicott was a member of one or more board sub-committees convened to deal with Susan Mowat’s husband Richard Mowat’s June 2019 complaint to the school board and a second matter that ERA member Lucia Vincent had suppressed.

In the latter case, Mowat's conduct had put her in hot water with the school. Medlicott agreed with Singleton's statement to the extent that Singleton had raised the issue of trust and confidence with Mowat and that mediated assistance had been discussed.

Dalziel sought confirmation the board did not administer board minutes; he agreed to that and that it was left to the the secretarial staff or words of that tenor. This point-who had digitally handled the amendment of three disputed sets of 2019 board minutes-would prove unresolved even by the end of the hearing. Medlicott spoke to other matters but they added little value to the proceedings.

At some point on that day 4, the unthinkable became wholly manifest: principal Nic Hill had arrived to give evidence. On Day 2 (1 April), a contact had alerted The NZR to a statement issued by Hill. The full message is printed below and can be found here-

Kia Ora All

I want to let the CBHS community know about a hearing involving CBHS which starts today at the Employment Relations Authority in Christchurch. It involves a former staff member taking a case against the school, alleging because of how she was treated she had no option but to resign back in 2019. The staff member is also alleging improper handling of Board of Trustee meeting minutes. CBHS will defend all of this in the coming days.

This particular case has been going on for over five years. The former staff member has been to many different authorities including the Ministry of Education and Worksafe which investigated the school several years ago. Worksafe decided not to prosecute and none of the other authorities have found against CBHS.

We have always vigorously defended ourselves and we welcome the ERA hearing. We hope that it may finally provide some closure of this long running matter. It may be covered in the media this week as they are allowed to attend the ERA hearing.

I am very proud to be the Headmaster of CBHS and I am proud of the work we have done over the past few years in the Health, Safety and Wellbeing space. I have been hugely supported by our Board of Trustees and especially Chairman Michael Singleton, who is going to the hearing today. The ERA judgement will be reserved and not released for a while, and I will keep everyone informed.

Dalziel (or Vincent)'s questioning focused initially on the relationship between he and Mowat. Hill described it as warm and welcoming and thought it was a good one as of February 2017. He also thought it had been a robust relationship.

The questioning then touched on a suppressed matter and then onto a critical (perhaps separate) March-2018 meeting regarding her workload. This meeting had seemingly set the tone in their employer-employee relationship and marked its descent into chaos. Vincent asked Hill did he say to Mowat, why would I be interested in your wellbeing and had he yelled and clenched his fists. Hill had refuted both charges and spoke of having a different recollection of that meeting. Mowat had said in her statement that her workload had been discussed and Hill had apologised. Hill said he understood she felt talked at and "apologised for how she was feeling".

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