Brokerage giant Aon New Zealand has confirmed that an employee who made an online death threat against a Wellington City Councillor is no longer employed by the company.
According to a report by the NZ Herald, the abuse followed a tweet by councillor Rebecca Matthews, who criticised the New Zealand Police over warrantless searches. An individual, later found to be an Aon employee, replied to Matthews’ tweet, allegedly threatening to shoot the councillor, while also hurling derogatory remarks towards her.
“It was just very creepy, I'm used to getting tough comments, but threats of violence - that's another level. It's scary,” Matthews was quoted by NZ Herald.
Matthews later received a call from Aon, informing her of the results of an internal investigation, and the brokerage confirmed that the person was an employee and that they no longer work for the company.
"I was really happy that I had taken action immediately and that I had reported it and that meant that there were consequences,” Matthews told the NZ Herald.
"I'd like to encourage other people to do the same because these things are designed to make you feel intimidated and not safe, but there are systems in place and I felt like I had a lot of support."
Aon released a statement to the press, which highlighted the company’s core values of inclusion, diversity and respect. A spokesperson said: “There is no place in our team for anyone who exhibits behaviours in conflict with these values. As we have previously stated, once Aon became aware of the matter we thoroughly investigated in line with our policies and employee Code of Conduct.”
The brokerage has not announced whether the person was dismissed or had resigned.
