Legal action threat [against New Zealand Aids Foundation] in HIV child stouch
A Whangarei childcare centre is planning legal action against the a New Zealand Aids Foundation (NZAF) for slander.
[The NZAF lobby group, active in political advocacy, is a charity registered with the Charities Commission. NZAF had a total gross income of $4,659,689 in the financial year ended 30 June 2011, which including $4,112,376 in Government grants/contracts, $342,029 from other grants and $117,508 from donations. Its total expenditure for the year was $4,997,359].
The centre said NZAF made false comments about it, which have ruined its reputation – but NZAF said the centre needed to acknowledge it has made “really poor decisions”.
A spokeswoman for NZAF says the foundation stood by its comments that the centre was wrong to stand down a four-year-old boy with HIV while it developed a care plan.
Mokopuna Early C E and Care Centre, run by He Puna Marama Trust, asked the boy’s mother in late April to remove her son after she told them he was HIV-positive.
Trust chief executive Raewyn Tipene said the centre wanted to put a care plan in place for the boy, but NZAF told the centre there was no need for a care plan as the level of HIV in his blood was so low it could not be transmitted to other children.
The controversy resulted in a war of words, with NZAF saying the centre had expelled the boy and Tipene disputing that.
“It was slander and it wrecked our reputation.
“They have lied blatantly and created a fear and animosity towards our centre. We’re going to take them as far as we can through the courts,” Tipene said.
Staff were distressed and parents had felt “demonised”, she said.
“If we had done something wrong the Ministry of Education would have come down on us like a tonne of bricks.
“They have gone and twisted the whole thing to their own agenda.”
Tipene believed that NZAF had “hijacked” the situation to create a media platform it could use to generate funding.
For full story see: www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/6917404/Legal-action-threat-in-HIV-child-stouch
What the Experts say
Early Childhood Council CEO Peter Reynolds said the centre’s actions were “reasonable” according to the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.
The regulations state a centre must take “all reasonable steps to promote the good health and safety of children enrolled in the service; and take all reasonable precautions to prevent accidents and the spread of infection among children enrolled in the service”.
No complaint has been made to the Human Rights Commission, but it said in a statement last week that the boy’s mother could complain on the ground of disability.
For full story see: www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/6917404/Legal-action-threat-in-HIV-child-stouch
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