Robert Stewart on Peter Jansen defamation action

A press release from Robert Stewart of Izard Weston

Dr Jansen makes the following comment:
"It is my belief, supported by independent legal advice, that I have been defamed. All that I am seeking is for the offending comments to be withdrawn and for a public apology to be issued. Money has never been an issue, this is about my professional reputation. If that redress is provided, I will of course halt the legal action that I have initiated as a private citizen."
Dr Jansen also categorically denies the accusation made by Carmel Sepuloni MP in the House yesterday that he “accessed private information about a victim of sexual abuse and used it to initiate legal action”. He has asked the Chief Executive of ACC to initiate a review of the Corporation’s records to confirm this.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1104/S00417/robert-stewart-on-peter-jansen-defamation-action.htm

ACC Minister needs to sort out culture in his corporation

A press release from the Labour Party by Carmel Sepuloni

Nick Smith must take action to ensure ACC is focused on delivering vital counselling and support services to sexual abuse victims instead of defending senior advisers who threaten legal action against those who raise concerns, says Carmel Sepuloni.
“The situation where ACC’s senior medical adviser Peter Jansen slapped a $250,000 lawsuit on a sexual abuse victim over her blog should never have been allowed to happen.
“Labour understands this is not the first time that employees/contractors to ACC have taken this approach to critics of ACC’s changes to counselling services for sexual abuse victims.
“The ACC Minister claims Peter Jansen is acting as a private individual rather than an employee of the corporation. But Peter Jansen is in fact taking legal action against people who criticize his actions as an ACC adviser. You cannot separate the two.
“As Minister, Nick Smith should have been advised about the legal action. Clearly there is poor communication between him and his own officials.
“This whole debacle is a symptom of a culture that Nick Smith has defended and continues to defend within the corporation. He should stand up and say publicly that this kind of behavior from the ACC adviser is unacceptable.”

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1104/S00355/acc-minister-needs-to-sort-out-culture-in-his-corporation.htm

Call for resignation of ACC’s senior medical advisor

A press release from Acclaim Otago (Inc)

“If the ACC is to retain credibility, Peter Jansen needs to resign,” said Denise Powell, spokesperson for Acclaim Otago.
“Acclaim Otago has absolutely no confidence in a senior medical advisor who is closely associated with the sensitive claim pathway fiasco of last year. In our opinion he has clearly demonstrated his extremely poor decision making skills and there is an obvious lack of understanding or empathy with survivors of sexual abuse.
“We call for Peter Jansen’s immediate resignation, anything less will make a mockery of ACC’s genuine attempts to correct the mistakes made with the hasty and ill advised introduction of the Sensitive Claims Pathway led by Jansen.”

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1104/S00205/call-for-resignation-of-accs-senior-medical-advisor.htm

Abuse victim to countersue ACC doctor

A news report from the New Zealand Herald by the NZPA

A sexual abuse victim says she will take legal action against a senior ACC employee who had lodged a defamation case against her over comments she made on an internet blog.
Dr Peter Jansen, a sensitive claims clinician with ACC, began legal action against the woman after she questioned his competence on her internet blog. He sought $200,000 in general damages, and an additional $50,000 in aggravated damages.
However, ACC Minister Nick Smith told Radio New Zealand this morning Dr Jansen would not be continuing with the action because the comments had been removed from her blog.
The comments were still online this morning when NZPA visited the website.
The woman, identified only as "Jax", said she had no intention of taking down the comments and was now considering countersuing Dr Jansen. She would not say on what grounds, but said she had received several offers of legal support.
Dr Smith said the doctor's lawyers had written to the woman in December, asking for the comments to be removed from the website.
"The material was still up this week and that is what led Dr Jansen's lawyers to take action," he said. "I spoke with Dr Jansen last night, he noted that the material had subsequently been taken down from the web, he has said that he will be withdrawing the legal action."
Dr Smith said there were two sides to the case.
"I can understand why Dr Jansen, as a well-respected and capable medical practitioner, was offended by the material that was put up on the net about him," Dr Smith said. "He became aware of the material on the web last November, he's never wanted money from the person, all he's simply wanted is for the highly defamatory material about him personally to be taken down."
Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni raised the case in Parliament yesterday when she questioned Dr Smith about how victims of sexual abuse were treated by the organisation. Ms Sepuloni also asked whether the minister would investigate how Dr Jansen had accessed private information about the woman to initiate legal action.
Answering on behalf of the minister, Cabinet Minister Tony Ryall said Dr Smith was always concerned about the victims of sexual abuse, and if Ms Sepuloni provided him with information about the case Dr Smith would address it.
"It is completely unacceptable if ACC staff have not been dealing with the victims of sexual abuse in a sympathetic and professional way," Mr Ryall said.

Copyright 2011 APN Holdings NZ Limited
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10719434

ACC doctor drops lawsuit against sex abuse victim

An article from Stuff by Andrea Vance

A senior ACC doctor is to drop a $250,000 lawsuit against a sexual abuse victim, ACC Minister Nick Smith says.
The woman, who blogs under the name Jax, says she was denied counselling for sexual abuse, and posted comments about Sensitive Claims Unit senior medical adviser Peter Jansen on a website.
Earlier this month she received a letter from Dr Jansen's lawyer warning they had begun High Court proceedings because her postings caused "considerable embarrassment and distress".
However, Dr Smith this morning told Radio New Zealand Dr Jansen would not be continuing with the action.
Dr Smith said the doctor's lawyers had written to the woman in December, asking for the comments to be removed from the website.
"The material was still up this week and that is what led Dr Jansen's lawyers to take action," he said.
"I spoke with Dr Jansen last night, he noted that the material had subsequently been taken down from the web, he has said that he will be withdrawing the legal action," Dr Smith said.
However the comments could still be found on the internet this morning, and Jax told RNZ she had no intention of taking them down. She said she was considering suing Dr Jansen.
Labour list MP Carmel Sepuloni brought the case to the attention of Dr Smith yesterday during parliamentary questions.
On her website, Jax says she has had more than a decade of counselling. She reapplied to ACC for more counselling in 2009. After an assessment, she says she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder but did not receive any further help.
And she says she is "formally in hiding" because of a pending historical sex abuse court case.
Ms Sepuloni asked Health Minister Tony Ryall, who was standing in for Dr Smith, if the ACC minister would investigate.
"Does he think fair treatment includes a senior medical adviser at ACC, Dr Peter Jansen, suing an ACC claimant, a victim of sexual abuse, for $250,000 for speaking her mind on a blog about the appalling treatment of sexual abuse victims under his watch?" she asked.
Jax says her blog has only 15 followers. "So let me see if I get this straight ... a blog of 15 followers has done more than $250,000 worth of damage to a man who has never granted a single woman seeking compensation for sexual abuse a mere percentage of that amount?"
ACC restricted funding to only those with a diagnosed mental injury resulting from sexual abuse. After a public outcry, it partly reversed the move and said those who had a new "sensitive claim" or were awaiting a decision could have up to 16 hours with a counsellor.
A spokesman for Dr Smith was not aware of the legal action until yesterday and had asked for an "urgent report".
ACC said Dr Jansen was funding the legal fight himself.

© 2011 Fairfax New Zealand Limited
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4890377/ACC-doctor-files-lawsuit-against-sex-abuse-victim