An IT manager at a school in New Zealand who joked about killing a student who was hit by a learner driver on school grounds has had his appeal against his dismissal rejected.

Kevin Whelan worked at Lindisfarne College, a boarding school in Hastings on the North Island for 23 years when, in August 2024, an upset student approached him with a friend. The student appeared “stressed and worried” about his collision with a fellow student, who had been riding his bike through school grounds. The cyclist suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital, Stuff reports.

In an effort to reassure the concerned student driver, Whelan says he played him CCTV footage of the collision, during which point he commented that the driver “should have backed up and finished him off.”

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Neither student acknowledged the remark, with Whelan admitting to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) that handled his appeal that it was a “clumsy” attempt at “black humour”.

The student driver later wrote a complaint to the college, where he described the comment as “horrific”, adding he felt compelled to report Whelan’s remarks because, “I knew the comment made was inappropriate”.

The college rector subsequently began a disciplinary investigation that also focused on Whelan’s decision to show CCTV footage to the students without permission. He was swiftly suspended and formally dismissed the following month.

Upon review, the ERA upheld the college’s decision, finding Whelan’s comments could reasonably be seen as condoning violence or physical harm, particularly given it was directed at young men looking to adults for guidance.

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The ERA also agreed the comment was serious enough to fall within the range of conduct for which a fair and reasonable employer could dismiss.

“I find that Mr Whelan’s admitted conduct was sufficiently serious to amount to serious misconduct justifying dismissal,” authority member Claire English said.

She also found the student had suffered genuine distress, rejecting Whelan’s claims that his dismissal and suspension were unjustified. However, the college was ordered to pay the former IT manager more than 12,718 dollars (£5,573) in fees, the majority of which was for causing hurt and humiliation.

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