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ISSUE
Friday, October 2, 2026
Volume 17 . Issue 39
Two senior Auckland Hospital doctors accused of allegedly intimidating colleagues have failed in a bid to stop an external investigation into their workplace conduct, although one has been allowed to return to hospital educational meetings, Stuff has reported.
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) last week rejected urgent applications from Auckland Hospital General Medicine physicians Dr Bodhi Wimalasena and Dr Samadhi Wimalasena seeking to halt a Health New Zealand investigation.
The investigation follows a complaint made in April by seven senior medical officers through the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. The complaint alleged the doctors’ conduct had contributed to an unhealthy workplace and was “threatening, intimidating and harassing in nature," Stuff has reported.
Both doctors deny the allegations.
ERA member Simon Greening ordered Health NZ to allow Dr Bodhi Wimalasena to attend weekly Grand Rounds and hospital-wide events within two working days of the determination.
Stuff report mentions that Greening found that allowing him to attend educational sessions in a department of about 27 physicians would not create an operational conflict with the complainants or compromise the investigation.
However, Greening declined Dr Samadhi Wimalasena’s application for temporary reinstatement to the Emergency Department.
He accepted Health NZ’s argument that interactions between Emergency Department and General Medicine staff during fast-paced patient handovers could create a potential clinical risk if communication broke down.
Greening said orders preventing an employer from investigating workplace conduct concerns were rare and found that the overall interests of justice favoured allowing Health NZ’s investigation to continue.
The doctors maintain that the investigation and interim workplace restrictions are retaliatory actions following protected disclosures they made in February 2025 concerning workplace culture.
Their substantive personal grievances, alleging unjustified disadvantage, remain unresolved.
The ERA is due to hear the full dispute at an investigation meeting scheduled for December.
Two senior Auckland Hospital doctors accused of allegedly intimidating colleagues have failed in a bid to stop an external investigation into their workplace conduct, although one has been allowed to return to hospital educational meetings, Stuff has reported.
The Employment Relations Authority...
Two senior Auckland Hospital doctors accused of allegedly intimidating colleagues have failed in a bid to stop an external investigation into their workplace conduct, although one has been allowed to return to hospital educational meetings, Stuff has reported.
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) last week rejected urgent applications from Auckland Hospital General Medicine physicians Dr Bodhi Wimalasena and Dr Samadhi Wimalasena seeking to halt a Health New Zealand investigation.
The investigation follows a complaint made in April by seven senior medical officers through the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. The complaint alleged the doctors’ conduct had contributed to an unhealthy workplace and was “threatening, intimidating and harassing in nature," Stuff has reported.
Both doctors deny the allegations.
ERA member Simon Greening ordered Health NZ to allow Dr Bodhi Wimalasena to attend weekly Grand Rounds and hospital-wide events within two working days of the determination.
Stuff report mentions that Greening found that allowing him to attend educational sessions in a department of about 27 physicians would not create an operational conflict with the complainants or compromise the investigation.
However, Greening declined Dr Samadhi Wimalasena’s application for temporary reinstatement to the Emergency Department.
He accepted Health NZ’s argument that interactions between Emergency Department and General Medicine staff during fast-paced patient handovers could create a potential clinical risk if communication broke down.
Greening said orders preventing an employer from investigating workplace conduct concerns were rare and found that the overall interests of justice favoured allowing Health NZ’s investigation to continue.
The doctors maintain that the investigation and interim workplace restrictions are retaliatory actions following protected disclosures they made in February 2025 concerning workplace culture.
Their substantive personal grievances, alleging unjustified disadvantage, remain unresolved.
The ERA is due to hear the full dispute at an investigation meeting scheduled for December.
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