“If as a PhD researcher I am trying to understand a subject and all of the background, the legislative background to those issues, then, I mean, I can’t afford to get it wrong,” she said.
“I understand that it must be difficult to spend your days answering Official Information Act requests, that you’ve got to know a lot and you’ve got to have access to a lot of documents and records to be able to answer correctly. But it is the very foundation of our rights as citizens to have access to this information.”
Sumner said she was shocked to read how staff had been speaking about her and found the reaction to her request “deeply disturbing”.
The ministry apologised to her in a cover letter sent with the OIA response, which Sumner received in February.
Deputy secretary policy Rajesh Chhana said he had hoped to discuss in person “a serious issue which came to light as part of the collation of material”.
“Inappropriate and unacceptable language was used in reference to you in a Microsoft Teams exchange between two Ministry of Justice employees. On behalf of the Ministry, I would like to apologise for the comment made about you. This comment was totally unacceptable under the Ministry’s Code of Conduct and its RISE values of Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence.
“I can also advise that this issue has been treated with the utmost seriousness by the Ministry and appropriate action has been taken.”
However, Sumner said the ministry had not done enough to remedy the situation. She wrote back to ask what had happened to the employees, but the ministry only wanted to communicate via phone, she said.
“I prefer always to do things in writing, so I don’t know how, where it’s gone at this point. I imagine nowhere.
“I think there does need to be transparency and I think there needs to be some sort of staff recommendation that this is not an acceptable way to speak about people who are requesting, legitimately requesting, information.”
The ministry also refused to clarify what action it had taken when approached by RNZ.
“This exchange contained remarks about the person which were unacceptable, unprofessional and contrary to our values as an organisation,” Chhana, who is currently the acting secretary for justice, said.
“I apologised to the person for the remarks, and we have addressed the issue with the employees concerned.”
The ministry did not answer questions about whether any other staffers, including management, were aware of the correspondence at the time, or what department the two people worked in.
Sumner said she would be sending a copy of her thesis to the ministry once it was completed.