A Christchurch police officer ordered by the Employment Court to pay the police commissioner $115,000 has applied for a retrial.
In a judgement delivered by Employment Court Judge Mark Perkins late last month, Stephen Davis was ordered to pay the sum following two unsuccessful sets of proceedings.
The amount Mr Davis was ordered to pay represented two-thirds of the actual fees charged to the police commissioner, the judgement stated.
Mr Davis told NZME. he has since applied for a re-hearing.
"The reason I'm doing that is because my lawyer advises me that the judge wrote [the judgement] in such a manner that it's not written on points of law," he said.
"I'm on sick leave at the moment -- it's an incredibly hard five years that I've been through.
"I've been on sick leave since I got the final costs judgement ... it just hit me for six."
Mr Davis said his application for a re-trial hearing has been set down for March and due to financial constraints, he would be representing himself.
The Employment Court confirmed his application had been received.
Mr Davis said he remained employed by police and described himself as "just an ordinary cop, trying to do the right thing".
The original proceedings stemmed Mr Davis' allegation that he was unjustifiably disadvantaged in his employment.
According to Judge Perkins' judgement, delivered in August, Mr Davis first became embroiled in a dispute over overtime while based at the three-man Mangonui police station.
He was later seconded to Kaeo police station where further problems arose, resulting in a decision to move Mr Davis away from Northland following serious allegations he made against senior officers in the region and a letter he wrote to the then police minister.
He was transferred to Christchurch and appointed to the traffic alcohol group, but his supervising sergeant began to noticing minor performance issues within a short time of his arrival.
He then began complaining to his senior sergeant that his supervisor discriminated against him and gave favourable treatment to other officers.
Judge Perkins dismissed his claims and said it was clear that when faced with difficult employment relationship problems, "largely of Mr Davis's own making", police went to considerable lengths to try to resolve the issues and keep Mr Davis in employment.
"It is significant that despite all that has happened, Mr Davis has remained a sworn police officer in Christchurch."
A police national headquarters spokesman confirmed they were aware of Mr Davis' application for a retrial.
By Brendan Manning of NZME. News Service
