Toni Talijancich v New Zealand Pony Club Association (ST02/26)

Appeal – Pony Club – New Zealand Pony Club Association (NZPCA) – appeal against decision of NZPCA National Judicial Committee (NJC) – Ms Talijancich is an NZPCA Board Member – whether Facebook post by Ms Talijancich breached NZPCA Code of Conduct (Code) and Social Media Guidelines – NJC imposed penalty of one-year suspension from positions of leadership – appeal grounds: denial of natural justice; penalty imposed was excessive/inappropriate – Tribunal found no denial of natural justice – Tribunal found Ms Talijancich did breach the Code; post was public and inappropriate – Tribunal unable to see attempt by NJC to categorise the level of breach as either ‘minor’, ‘serious’ or ‘criminal’ as per Code – NJC made errors with aggravating and mitigating factors – no explanation by NJC why period of suspension from leadership positions over other available penalties – Tribunal finds that breach was ‘minor’ and penalty imposed by NJC was excessive – appeal allowed and penalty set aside – no lesser penalty substituted given circumstances – name suppression refused