Ministry of Justice workers call researcher a 'bitch' in online conversation
Ministry of Justice workers call researcher a 'bitch' in online conversation
Researcher Barbara Sumner discovered the "deeply disturbing" conversation through an Official Information Act request.
Two Ministry of Justice workers are in hot water for describing a researcher as a "bitch" in an online conversation.
Academic and author Barbara Sumner made a number of Official Information Act requests as part of her PhD research into the systems around adoption. Then, in October last year, she asked for all correspondence mentioning her by name.
"Because I had felt all along that there was a resistance to everything I sent in and you know, just the sort of snottiness, I guess, of some of the responses that came in that request. I wanted to understand how they were treating me throughout the process."
One page of the response stood out among more than 100 others. A November 2022 Teams conversation between two staffers, whose names were redacted, complained about Sumner's latest request.
They described it as "a waste of time" and said it "should have been refused on the ground of substantial collation" or that the ministry should "charge her for it and get a contractor".
"our ministerial services team sucks cuz they wouldnt let us refuse, and helen didnt push back hard [sic]," one worker wrote.
"but also shes a bitch for wanting everything. does she think govt just has unlimited resources for this type of crap lol.
"like theres no public interest in our emails back and forward."
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This is why I don't like these types of platforms. If you are bitching about someone, keep it offline.
Sumner said she was shocked to read how staff had been speaking about her, and found the reaction to her request "deeply disturbing".
This seems like she is playing it up for the media, "deeply disturbing", are you really so thin skinned that someone calling you a schoolyard name is "deeply disturbing". I'm sorry but people have real feelings and have good/bad days. Was the language unprofessional, totally. Was language required or helpful, absolutely not.