Barfoot sacks staff member over leaked housing data
“Our investigation demonstrated conclusively that in this case a line had been crossed and the breach of our policies has provided ground for dismissal.”
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Barfoot & Thompson has sacked an unidentified staff member after the person was found to have leaked confidential data.
The data, released by the Labour Party's housing spokesman this weekend, suggests almost 40% of Auckland houses sold from February to April this year were to buyers with Chinese surnames, even though ethnic Chinese make up only 9% of Auckland's population.
Managing director Peter Thompson says he can offer no insight into the motivation of the staff member concerned.
He says the staff member admitted leaking the data.
“Our investigation demonstrated conclusively that, in this case a line had been crossed and the breach of our policies has provided ground for dismissal.”
He says that although the investigation is “ongoing,” Barfoot is able to confirm conclusively that confidential data was sent by the staff member to a “wide range” of individuals including media and political figures.
Mr Thompson says this does not include direct contact with the Labour Party and reiterated the real estate firm has had no contact with Labour.
He says the investigation needs to continue to ensure the integrity of that data is respected. The data had been leaked over a period of months, he says.
He says legal advice had been taken, but the police have not been contacted.
Barfoot & Thompson chief executive Wendy Alexander says that, if any other staff member is found leaking the information, they will also be sacked.
Ms Alexander says Auckland is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world and “it’s inevitable that a significant level of our enquiries in regards to list and sell come from Chinese.”
“There is nothing unusual, unique or scary about that. We welcome their business and many of the people who represent Barfoot & Thompson are from those countries as well. Good on them, they’re doing a great job. And the results speak for themselves.”
Jason Walls
Wed, 15 Jul 2015
Wed, 15 Jul 2015
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Barfoot sacks staff member over leaked housing data
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