By Rachel Morton
The Government ministry in charge of safety at Pike River is preparing to be sued by the families.
Several family members have indicated they want to take legal action against the Department of Labour.
The department, now known as the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MoBIE), today said sorry to the families of the men who died.
But sorry may not be enough for the families.
“We are looking at how we will manage a civil action taken against an individual or an organisation to ensure that our people are supported as appropriate,” says MoBIE chief executive David Smol.
The ministry claims most of people who made decisions about health and safety leading up to the Pike tragedy no longer work there. However it is carrying out a review to see if the people who do are accountable.
“We have a number of people in the ministry who have worked in the safety area for years and they range from senior through to operational frontline people,” says Mr Smol.
If family members do take action against the department it would be for exemplary damages, so they'd have to prove the department was reckless and any fines would be to set an example rather than for compensation.
A lawyer told 3 News there's enough evidence for the families to bring a case against the Labour Department but it would take several years and tens of thousands of dollars.
Usually a civil case needs to be brought within two years of death which means they only have a few weeks to bring a case, however an extension could be granted by the courts.
3 News
source: newshub archive
