Siouxsie Wiles was often sought for her opinion on the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles has told a court that the harassment she faced for her Covid-19 commentary was exacerbated by her employer's handling of the situation.
The associate professor at the University of Auckland's Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences has taken the university to court over what she claims is a failure to protect her from the threats received for the commentary on Covid-19 and vaccines.
Earlier, the court was told that Wiles felt that the university was "victim blaming" her, and that the vice chancellor had sent her a letter in August 2021, asking her to minimise public commentary until the completion of a risk review.
On the third day of the Employment Court hearing, sitting at the Auckland District Court, she was asked under cross-examination by defence lawyer Philip Skelton whether her fears resulted from abuse received externally,
Wiles said dealing with the university had been worse.
Wiles broke down in tears when she spoke about how it has impacted her wellbeing and the ongoing fears for her employment.
"I am in the demographic that is more likely to get long Covid, and it really concerns me that if I'm not able to perform my duties at work, that that will be used to get rid of me,
"This is a big concern of mine. So to say that the harassment is the only thing that's causing my distress, is absolutely not true," she said.
The court heard that Wiles was asked by her managers to limit her science communications to one day a week.
She was also told by the university's employment relations manager at the time that employment law required her to step back if a situation was unsafe.
Wiles said she interpreted this as a "threat" to stop her from doing the critic and conscience part of her job - a role academics carry out as part of their wider social responsibility.
"Given the timing, it was scary actually, because not only were we contracted to do this work, but it was really important work that was needed to help people understand really difficult times,
"The public health measures weren't going to work if people didn't follow them, and that really involved understanding the science, and that was what we were doing as part of our job," she said.
University had security plan, consulted police
During cross examination, defence lawyer Philip Skelton pointed to emails sent by the university's staff risk intervention team (SRIT) in January 2022, to consult Wiles and others about the implementation of a security audit plan.
This was about half a year after Wiles and other staff raised personal grievances against UoA, and almost two years from the time Wiles first raised safety concerns with UoA in April 2020.
The court heard that Wiles raised concerns about the lack of individual risk assessment and home security issues.
She said she was concerned that staff like herself who felt unsafe at home needed to pay $5000 first to install security, before getting reimbursed by the university.
Wiles said going through the reimbursement process was "farcical" and that she worried that the home security was inaccessible to staff who did not have the money to spare - particularly junior staff who were getting harassed too.
Skelton said that the university later amended its policy, which showed it was collaborative and taking on board feedback.
He said SRIT had also been liaising with police about the level of risks Wiles was facing.
Skelton also pointed to evidence that by early 2022, the university had committed to contacting Wiles if they found any threats or protests, and to providing her with a fortnightly summary of trends and observations of risks, and to engage with NetSafe and the Science and Media Centre about those risks.
'A public health crisis that required the entire population to follow rules'
Prominent epidemiologist Professor Rod Jackson, who also did frequent media interviews throughout the pandemic, was called as a witness today.
Professor Rod Jackson. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Jackson had also alerted senior leadership, including the vice chancellor and his faculty dean, after he began receiving increasingly aggressive threats - including someone saying they knew where he lived, and death threats.
He told the court that the dean of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences John Fraser had told him it might restrict his public communications if the threats increased.
Jackson said that advice was not helpful.
"So for me that was completely undesirable, it would've negated the whole purpose ... my role was to communicate with the public, and to try to take them along with us, so that wasn't actually helpful to me."
Aside from that advice, Jackson said he was also told to stay clear of social media, and was later contacted by an IT staff member about risks.
Jackson said he had a responsibility as part of a public health strategy that seemed to be working, and felt that if he pulled back it may not be as effective.
"Here we have an unprecedented situation ... where we were expecting the entire New Zealand population to accept lockdowns and quite substantial restrictions on all sorts of other things, mask wearing, physical distancing, and subsequently we expected well over 90 percent of the eligible population to be vaccinated.
"This was a public health crisis, which required almost the entire population to follow rules and to do things they'd never been asked before in their entire lives, which required high-quality, effective communication."
He said over a 18-month period, in addition to his full-time job, he often worked six hours to do additional research and prepare for media interviews on Covid-19.
Jackson said it was disappointing and "weird" that there was no "thank you" or affirmations from the vice chancellor or his dean for the work he had taken on.
"As academics, we're not looking for praise, or additional money, but we need to have what we do affirmed," he said.
Jackson added that the silence from the top made him question if he was doing something wrong.
The case continues this week.
