Thomas George Goddard (born Tomasz Goldwag, 20 May 1937 – 14 March 2019) was a New Zealand jurist. He served as chief judge of the

Employment Court of New Zealand The Employment Court of New Zealand (Māori: Te Kooti Take-a-mihi o Aotearoa) is a specialist court for employment disputes. It mainly deals with issues arising under the Employment Relations Act 2000. The Employment Court is a court of record and ...

from 1989 to 2005.

Early life and family

Goddard was born Tomasz Goldwag in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland, on 20 May 1937, the son of Naum Goldwag and Estera Goldwag (née Kryńska). They survived

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

and came to New Zealand in 1947, changing their surname to Goddard. Thomas Goddard became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1952. He was educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

, and went on to study at

Victoria University College Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

majoring in French and Latin in 1958, a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in French the following year, and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1962.

Career

Goddard was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

as a barrister and solicitor of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in 1962, and specialised in employment law, equity law, administrative law, the law of torts, contract law, and jurisprudence. He practised either in partnership or in sole practice until 1989, and in 1982 acted as counsel for the successful plaintiff in a cited case regarding exemplary damages in tort, '' Taylor v Beere''. In 1989, he was appointed chief judge of the Labour Court, and when that court became the Employment Court in 1991, he continued as chief judge, retiring from that role in 2005.

Later life and death

Not long after his retirement, Goddard was appointed by the Tongan government in August 2005 to review the pay claims of Tongan public servants who were on strike. When the District Court judge

Ian Borrin Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

died in 2016, he left a $30 million legacy for the establishment of a charitable trust, the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation, in memory of his parents, and Goddard was appointed as a member of its grants and scholarship committee. Goddard died at his home in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

on 14 March 2019.

Honours

In 1990, Goddard was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

. He was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

, for services to the Employment Court, in the 2006 New Year Honours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goddard, Thomas 1937 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Polish Jews Holocaust survivors Polish emigrants to New Zealand People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand) Victoria University of Wellington alumni Employment Court of New Zealand judges 20th-century New Zealand judges University of Auckland alumni Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit 21st-century New Zealand judges