Institutional Racism and Systemic Injustices: A Case Study of Tom Harris at Waitemata Community Law Centre 2021
A Maori male, Tom Harris, suffered severe injuries in a motorcycle accident caused by a drunken driver. Despite extensive surgeries and rehabilitation, his mobility remains restricted. The case highlights institutional racism in the healthcare and insurance systems, where inadequate support and acknowledgment of vulnerabilities were observed. The lack of timely communication and disparities in compensation reflect systemic injustices faced by marginalized individuals.
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Institutional Racism Tom Harris Waitemata Community Law Centre 2021
Background Maori male 17 years old Working full time since leaving high school living at home Non drinker, drug user or smoker While riding his motorcycle to visit friends, was struck head on by a drunken driver who was driving home from a local pub. Driver tested four times over the legal limit. While being interviewed by the police, the police report advised that driver was incoherent and fell asleep before the interview was completed
Injuries Head injury 3cm crack at the top of skull Titanium plate with 8 screws Right arm Both bones in right forearm broken Titanium rods in with 10 screws in both bones Right hip Titanium hip replacement Multiple screws and fasteners Right femur Titanium rod entire length of bone Multiple contusions, lacerations and hematomas.
NZ medical journal has the surgery listed as the longest single surgery at fourteen hours. Due to the experimental nature of the surgery, recovery was closely monitored with a 3 month stay in hospital and physical rehabilitation was lengthy. The surgeon Mr. Curry advised in his report that although the surgery went well, he is not expecting a full or unrestricted return to normal mobility. Client has memory loss for the year previous to the accident, but apart from that memory functions seem to be normal. Client was discharged from hospital with limited mobility, low vision in his left eye and multiple open wounds around his body.
Interaction with ACC Personal Requests for income statements Style of communication Institutional Little to no follow up regarding timeliness of applications and payments Lack of acknowledgement of risk around young persons vulnerability of being exposed to systems and processes that can limit their access to entitlements Structural Systems that identify that this client was being exposed to poor / racist practices. No alarms were raised when client s lump sum compensation was lower than other clients who had less severe injuries.
