Mahvash Ikram
A school principal who was suspended twice and then dismissed amid bullying allegations has won reinstatement to her role and compensation after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found the disciplinary process she faced was “flawed from the outset”.
Regina Rasheed, who was principal of the Islamic secondary school Zayed College for Girls from 2011 until her dismissal in June 2025, complained to the ERA that her treatment was unjustified, breached her employment agreement and did not meet statutory good faith obligations.
ERA member Marija Ulrich agreed in a decision released this week, ordering the school to reinstate Rasheed and immediately restore her to the payroll, provide $40,000 compensation for loss of dignity, and reimburse lost wages from when she was dismissed, in addition to 23 days of sick leave.
Ulrich also found that Aotearoa Charitable Foundation – the trust that owns the school’s lands and buildings – assisted in breaching the employment agreement, imposing a $6000 penalty, half of which will be paid to Rasheed.
“The deficiencies in the process were not minor or technical… they involved clear breaches of obligations owed to Mrs Rasheed under the collective agreement,” the ERA decision said.
Ulrich accepted the school’s commissioner, Lynley Myers, believed she was acting in the best intentions of the college, but added: “That does not restrict or alter the application of the relevant legal tests to the factual matters for determination.”
‘Stale’ allegations
Myers first suspended Rasheed pending an investigation in July 2024 after the acting principal raised concerns about alleged breaches of the Health and Safety Act.
However, Rasheed’s returned to work in August after an application for interim reinstatement was accepted. She was suspended again in September after the investigation produced a table of 171 alleged concerns against her.
Myers upheld 13 of the allegations against Rasheed and she was dismissed in June 2025. Ulrich examined several of the allegations, including yelling and misuse of school resources and found no evidence of misconduct.
One of the most serious claims was that Rasheed told a staff member to take her car for a warrant of fitness during school hours. Ulrich noted that neither Myers not the workplace investigator interviewed the staff member, who told the ERA that he had volunteered to perform the task, not been instructed by Rasheed.
The principal was “unjustifiably disadvantaged” by both suspensions and the dismissal, Ulrich said in her determination. In the first suspension, the authority found that Myers did not follow the process as set out in Rasheed’s terms of employment.
The second suspension was also unjustified because the list of 171 concerns included “stale” allegations – including some dating back to 2015, matters that had been previously closed and issues that had already been addressed and resolved.
‘Career ending’ dismissal
The workplace investigation alleged Rasheed had created a “culture of fear” at the college, but Ulrich accepted Rasheed’s submission that no specific incidents had been reported under the Health and Safety at Work Act to support the assertation.
“Mrs Rasheed was entitled to expect her employer to scrupulously adhere to those provisions. This did not occur and caused Mrs Rasheed disadvantage in her employment,” she found.
She said Myers did not follow due process leading up to the dismissal, which was “effectively career ending” for Rasheed.
“The failure to fairly assess the concerns raised… means the disciplinary process was flawed from the outset. The subsequent actions of the Commissioner [Myers] once she received the investigation report, some eight months later do not cure this flaw.”
Ulrich found the dismissal took significant toll on Rasheed’s health and other aspects of her life. “She withdrew even more from her community following her dismissal to avoid questions that would trigger acute anxiety and distress and has found the dismissal deeply shaming because it may have cemented in the minds of community members that she is guilty of wrongdoing justifying such an outcome.”
The school was ordered to agreed with Rasheed on a process for her return as principal within 21 days of the determination, dated 27 May 2026.
The full ERA decision is available here – 2026-NZERA-326
0 Comments