An unhealthy obsession

Susan Pepperell at HoS reports:

A former Radio New Zealand news boss who has been fighting her sacking for more than six years has placed a new dossier in front of the Serious Fraud Office, alleging money went missing from the state broadcaster between 1999 and 2003.

But the toll on Lynne Snowdon has been severe.

She was due to appear in court in Wellington tomorrow for the next stage in what has become a costly and protracted employment dispute, but her husband and lawyer John Hickling has sought an adjournment because Snowdon’s health is too bad. She could not stand up to the rigour of courtroom questioning.

I am not surprised her health is bad. She has fought a jihad for eight years against Radio NZ, since she lost her job there. Now I’m all for fighting for your rights, but Snowdon has taken this beyond rational levels. I imagine she has turned herself unemployable.

“It has been extremely expensive and has taken a terrible toll. It’s unrelenting and you can’t get on with your life,” Hickling said.

Hickling tries to make it sound like Radio NZ is responsible for it dragging on six years, when of course it is his wife. No one has forced her to run to the SFO, to appeal multiple times on multiple issues.

She managed to get two years sick leave at $120/000 year before she was let go. As far as I can tell, she believes she should have remained on sick leave for life. Most employees have a maximum of 5 – 10 days a year – she got 500 days.