The long-running case of a woman who says she was bullied, abused and sexually harassed in the Air Force has ended with our highest court saying she cannot sue for compensation.
Mariya Taylor joined the Defence Force as an aircraftman in the mid 1980s.
She says she complained about what a superior, Sergeant Robert Roper, did to her but the RNZAF failed to act.
Taylor says she was indecently assaulted while driving Roper home at night and was regularly locked and left in a tyre cage.
Roper, who in 2014 was found guilty of sexual offending against members of his family and three other women, denied all Taylor's allegations.
She has been seeking compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder and went to the High Court in 2016.
That court found that, on the balance of probabilities, Roper had assaulted and falsely imprisoned her but that her claims were barred by the length of time that had passed.
Later, the Court of Appeal said Taylor was able to seek damages for negligence, assault and battery and emotional harm.
But it said she could sue for exemplary damages.
Roper, and the Attorney-General, sought leave to appeal part of a reissued decision.
The Supreme Court granted their applications last May and also granted leave for Taylor to cross-appeal.
Mariya Taylor's lawyer, Graeme Little SC, told 1News he was dismayed by today's decision. (Source: 1News)
In a decision today, it has allowed the appeal from Roper and the Attorney-General, upholding the High Court decision dismissing Taylor's claim for compensation for false imprisonment.
It has dismissed Taylor's cross-appeal, and held that Taylor was entitled to ACC cover which meant she could not seek compensatory damages.
The Supreme Court decisions were unanimous.
Taylor's lawyer, Graeme Little SC, told 1News he was dismayed by the Supreme Court decision.
He confirmed they still intended to push for exemplary damages.
"But they're usually very moderate indeed in their amounts," he said.
"It’s virtually, hardly 5 per cent of what her damages were worth if she’d be able to proceed with the common law action."
In 2019 Taylor spoke through tears to 1News when the High Court ordered her to pay almost $30,000 to Roper.
At that time, she detailed how she was emotionally drained and "not coping very well at the moment".
"It's just absolutely awful, I wouldn't want anybody to be in my shoes right now," she said.
SHARE ME