Nurse who made unwanted advances to colleague said it was ‘sexual banter’

An Auckland nurse made sexual remarks and requests to a colleague spanning more than a year, leaving her scared and unable to sleep or leave the house without worrying he might be near, a tribunal has heard.

But the nurse said he didn’t understand the comments offended her and thought it was “sexual banter”.

The man, who has interim name suppression, is appearing before the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in Auckland this week facing allegations he behaved inappropriately and unprofessionally towards the woman on multiple occasions.

The tribunal heard how the advances began on the woman’s birthday in 2018, when she declined a request to celebrate with the man, referred to as Mr R.

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Throughout the course of the day, Mr R asked the woman multiple times to celebrate her birthday with him, which she declined.

Mr R then waited outside the ward for the woman after her shift ended, and followed her and another nurse to their car, the tribunal heard.

A witness whose name was also suppressed, would later tell the tribunal this was not the only time Mr R followed the woman after a shift had ended.

The sexual advances and remarks continued, the tribunal heard, when Mr R asked to check the woman’s browsing history to see if she had been watching porn, gestured for her to sit on his lap, and asked her to perform an indecent act on him three times during one shift.

Despite telling Mr R his actions were “so yuck” and “disgusting” he continued, she said.

On another occasion the woman said Mr R pushed his body against hers, and asked her to “go to bed”.

“I felt violated with his actions,” she said.

She felt scared, and could no longer sleep knowing the man lived nearby, and was unable to leave the house without thinking he might be close, she said.

In 2019, the woman spoke to a manager and laid a complaint. Later that year, the matter was referred to the Profession Conduct Committee by the Nursing Council of New Zealand.

During a meeting with the manager, Mr R admitted he behaved inappropriately towards the woman, and said he only did so when he “knew no one was looking”.

The lawyer representing the Nursing Council’s professional conduct committee (PCC), Matthew McClelland KC, said Mr R was well aware his behaviour was inappropriate, but inflicted it upon the woman anyway.

”The PCC submits any unwanted physical contact from one colleague to another is serious, and highly inappropriate.”

The PCC also noted an inherent power imbalance as Mr R was a senior member of staff.

Speaking to the tribunal, Mr R accepted the charges laid against him, and did not challenge the allegation professional misconduct had taken place, but denied aspects of the woman’s account.

They included that he had pushed his body against hers, or had said “just one date, it’s not going to hurt you”.

Mr R said he and the woman were friends, and he thought they were engaging in “sexual banter”.

When making masturbation gestures he was trying to “lighten up the mood” during a stressful shift, he said.

At the time he did not get the impression she was offended by the sexual comments, however, on refection he understood his behaviour was not appropriate, he said.

The hearing is expected to take three days.