Belinda Richards removed as investigator into Gawler Council chief Henry Inat bullying allegations
An independent investigator appointed by Gawler Council to look into bullying allegations against the chief executive has been dumped just days after her appointment.
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Gawler Council has been forced to get rid of an independent investigator appointed to look into bullying allegations against chief executive Henry Inat after a possible conflict of interest was revealed.
The council appointed Belinda Richards from InSynchHR as the independent investigator at a meeting behind closed doors last week.
But, by Thursday evening, she had been removed from the investigation into Mr Inat’s alleged treatment of council staff after it was revealed Ms Richards had links to Mr Inat’s wife.
A letter by Australian Services Union secretary Abbie Spencer to Gawler councillors and staff on Wednesday raised concerns over “serious conflicts of interest” between Ms Richards and the council.
The letter revealed that Ms Richards had worked with Mr Inat’s wife at Norman Waterhouse law firm for eight years. Ms Spencer said the fact the two worked at the same law firm for nearly a decade constituted “a significant conflict of interest”.
Her letter also noted that Ms Richards was recommended by Sathish Dasan of Norman Waterhouse Lawyers – who is currently working for Mr Inat and the council in pay negotiations with staff.
He has also represented the council in South Australian Employment Tribunal disputes with staff.
Ms Spencer said she would advise union members not to participate in the investigation if the perceived conflicts were not resolved.
The investigation was sparked by an ASU survey of Gawler Council staff about pay negotiations with Mr Inat in which many said they felt “disrespected”, “degraded” and “intimidated” by Mr Inat.
A number of staff members said they felt bullied by him.
Mr Inat has denied the allegations.
Gawler Mayor Karen Redman said the could was “confident” Ms Richards would have conducted the investigation “free of any bias”, however, it “does not want the perception of bias to detract from achieving a fair outcome for all parties”.
“A decision has been made to stop the current process being conducted by Ms Richards and council will be looking to engage a different consultant to conduct the investigation,” Ms Redman said.
She said the investigation needed to be conducted by a “specialist consultant”.
Ms Richards declined to comment.