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The Employment Authority and Employment Court have deemed the 2012 dismissal of former Auckland University Student Association General Manager Tom O'Connor justified. O'Connor brought the case to court after he was dismissed by AUSA due to the mismanagement of AUSA finances. However, O'Connor maintained he only had AUSA's best interest in mind and that his dismissal was predetermined.

In November 2011 O'Connor was made executive director of AUSA's business, Bacchid. He was appointed to the position after the company was revealed to be $1.4 million debt. The building that AUSA occupied was dependent on Bacchid’s financial stability; this was due to it being owned by Auckland University on the condition that the business was solvent. Current AUSA President and 2012 Media Officer Cate Bell explained, “Certain areas of AUSA buildings are occupied by Bacchid, and by them being insolvent it could just remove those buildings from AUSA and revert back to the University.”

O'Connor took immediate steps to attempt to reduce Bacchid's debt, which included advising the AUSA Executive to transfer $220,000 from AUSA’s property trust to Bacchid. This payment was authorised by the Executive. However, according to Bell, this was authorised by O’Connor prior to the motion being passed by the AUSA Executive and O’Connor had not followed through on the conditions AUSA had attached to the motion.

“Tom was General Manager of AUSA, he then took on General Manager of Bacchid, he then stayed as the Chairperson of Bacchid and a trustee of the services trust; he was also a trustee on the property trust … He was so heavily conflicted that he should not have ever been involved,” said Bell.

2012 AUSA President Arena Williams said, "When I took over my role as President, I came to realise the students and Executive didn't have a good understanding of where AUSA was at financially." In May 2012, the Executive commissioned an independent review, which found that the payment had risked AUSA's property trust's long-term financial viability. The report alleged that O'Connor had given reckless or negligent advice to the Executive, and that Bacchid was identified as having poor financial controls.

Under employment advice, Williams began O'Connor's disciplinary process. At the disciplinary meeting O'Connor opposed the allegations that Bacchid was insolvent. He later acknowledged that there was an inherent conflict of interest in both of his roles, but contested that Bacchid and AUSA had the same interests. He then took AUSA to the Employment Authority, which found that there were no major procedural errors and that O'Connor's dismissal was justified. O’Connor appealed this decision through the Employment Court but the finding was upheld.

O'Connor's lawyer, Garry Pollak, told the NZ Herald, "All he had was AUSA's best interests at heart – that's all he was trying to do.”

“AUSA is pleased with the recent decision of the Authority and the Court … AUSA has updated all financial policies, ensured they are implemented and followed by everyone internally. AUSA is predicting a surplus from the operating budget for the first time in a long time in 2014” said Bell.

Critic was unable to contact O’Connor but it is understood that there has been a monetary settlement for legal fees awarded to AUSA, which according to Pollak was considerably less than AUSA were seeking. Pollak also said the budget changes of AUSA were due to their facilities now being run by Auckland University. “[AUSA] is a mere shell of what it used to be,” Pollak said.

Due to being unable to find work in New Zealand, O’Connor has now moved overseas.