The Department of Corrections is refusing to reveal any more details about the recent sacking of a staff member at the Otago Corrections Facility (OCF), claiming to do so could prejudice any further employment investigations within the prison service.
The corrections officer was sacked in April for swapping letters with a prisoner.
Management later confirmed the charge of serious misconduct laid against the officer did not involve a sexual relationship or any criminal activity with the prisoner but the department did not release any more details about the incident, the people involved or what it meant by the term "swapping letters".
Under the Official Information Act, the Otago Daily Times requested copies of the employment investigation, copies of the letters swapped between the former officer and prisoner and any other written correspondence (either electronically or in letter form) between the department and OCF management regarding this issue.
In its response, the department said releasing the requested information would make the individuals involved in the investigation "readily identifiable" and that would amount to a breach of their privacy.
Disclosing the information could prejudice the supply of similar information to future employment investigations.
It was in the public interest that those investigations continue to be supplied with full information, the department said.
