Mitchell has now challenged his dismissal in the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), which has ordered his immediate interim reinstatement to TRU\u2019s payroll only.<\/p>\n
Review raised concerns before dismissal process<\/p>\n
According to the ERA\u2019s decision, a review commissioned by the board in late November 2025 assessed TRU\u2019s staffing structure, roles and reporting lines, and operational effectiveness.<\/p>\n
The review recorded concerns about leadership and visibility, including comments that the CEO lacked \u201cvision, strategy and effective communication\u201d and several staff had \u201chuge concern\u201d about Mitchell\u2019s visible hours.<\/p>\n
In an affidavit, TRU board chair Wayne Young said the reviewer had verbally described Mitchell as \u201cmissing in action\u201d.<\/p>\n
Young sent a formal letter to Mitchell on December 17, 2025, raising performance concerns based on paraphrased review findings and stating that the review had said \u201cleadership must be replaced\u201d when it had said \u201cleadership must be addressed\u201d.<\/p>\n
The second half of the letter listed \u201cother concerns\u201d, including claims that Mitchell was \u201cfrequently\u201d not at work on Wednesdays and that there was no record he had paid for his wife\u2019s travel expenses for a trip to Southland.<\/p>\n
Tasman Rugby Union oversees rugby at the top of the South Island. Aaron Gillions \/ www.photosport.nz<\/p>\n
The letter concluded by saying that a decision had not been made but that, subject to Mitchell\u2019s response, \u201cthese concerns could potentially amount to misconduct warranting disciplinary action\u201d. <\/p>\n
Mitchell responded that he did not agree with all the review findings but took concerns seriously. He said he was willing to meet to discuss when he was back from annual leave over the Christmas break.<\/p>\n
The situation escalated when TRU raised a second set of serious concerns in a December 19 letter. These included allegations Mitchell had acted in an intimidating manner towards a staff member, extended staff contracts without permission, and disclosed confidential information.<\/p>\n
The letter said \u201cit would be appropriate to suspend you on pay, as provided in your contract, pending the conclusion of this process\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mitchell responded through counsel on January 19, disputing the allegations and saying the office conversation related to operational matters and a friend\u2019s death, while the contract extensions were an operational issue for the CEO.<\/p>\n
He accepted telling five people that a former TRU chief executive could be joining the organisation, but denied saying he was being \u201creplaced\u201d, and did not accept the proposed suspension.<\/p>\n
Mitchell made a Privacy Act request, with the resulting internal board messages not disclosed to him until after his dismissal.<\/p>\n
On March 9, TRU proposed summary dismissal, saying the alleged breakdown in trust and confidence left no other available outcome.<\/p>\n
Mitchell responded that this was out of range for a \u201creasonable\u201d and \u201crational\u201d response.<\/p>\n
He was summarily dismissed on March 20. <\/p>\n
Internal communications call Mitchell \u2018skant\u2019<\/p>\n
Mitchell raised the personal grievance for unjustified dismissal and lodged ERA proceedings on April 10, seeking interim and permanent reinstatement, lost earnings, compensation and costs.<\/p>\n
The requested communications were not disclosed until April 2, nearly two weeks after his dismissal. They showed board members discussing him in derogatory terms.<\/p>\n
One email from board member Tony Healey said Mitchell was referred to by staff as a \u201cskant\u201d. \u201cOld fashioned term but spot on. Google it. Boom,\u201d he commented.<\/p>\n
Another message from Young to a board member claiming Mitchell had left work early that day. The board member responded that Mitchell was \u201cthe gift that keeps on giving\u201d. Young agreed and communicated that\u2019s \u201c[the reviewer\u2019s] saying too\u201d.<\/p>\n
Young also told TRU\u2019s communications adviser he was \u201cstill hoping for the nice exit\u201d in which Mitchell would have input.<\/p>\n
There was a message from Young to a TRU staff member that included that he had \u201cjust arrived back after a big day answering [Mitchell\u2019s] claims\/ untruths. I honestly think he has cognitive issues from boxing. After going over my replies it just doesn\u2019t make sense\u201d. <\/p>\n
Another board member told Young the process became easier because he had \u201cemotionally cemented\u201d his view and \u201cdrawn a line in the sand\u201d.<\/p>\n
In an email dated January 21, Healey asked Young \u201chas it gone\u201d then communicated: \u201cMate. This time in 2 days minus 1 hour. Steven David Mitchell (aka 67. Which means he is a nothing. Ask your kids).\u201d <\/p>\n
Young replied with \u201cmate his actions speak volumes \u2013 he is showing his true colours\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mitchell argued the messages showed board members had formed derisive views of him and were following a predetermined course to oust him. TRU opposed Mitchell\u2019s claims and denied the dismissal process was predetermined.<\/p>\n
In her decision, ERA member Antoinette Baker found Mitchell had a \u201cserious case for unjustified dismissal\u201d, particularly his argument that his dismissal was predetermined.<\/p>\n
Baker said TRU\u2019s review concerns had merged with later serious misconduct allegations, which \u201carguably need testing\u201d on both the sufficiency of the investigation and the reasonableness of serious misconduct findings.<\/p>\n
She said the board communications showed members had formed personalised views about Mitchell\u2019s \u201cintegrity and competence and honesty\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find the overall justice favours returning Mr Mitchell to the payroll immediately on an interim basis,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n
Baker ordered Mitchell to be reinstated to TRU\u2019s payroll at his CEO salary, including back pay from March 21 as a taxed lump sum.<\/p>\n
Dates were being held for a substantive investigation in Nelson in the week beginning October 12, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mitchell has now challenged his dismissal in the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), which has ordered his immediate interim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1863,138,3500,8985,5430,111,139,69,90,6848,37066,6327,12622,52164,2224],"class_list":["post-515435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-back","tag-business","tag-ceo","tag-era","tag-mitchell","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-orders","tag-payroll","tag-rugby","tag-sacked","tag-steven","tag-tasman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}