Gawler Council chief Henry Inat under investigation for allegations staff feel bullied by him
An external investigation has been launched into allegations workers feel bullied by Gawler Council chief executive Henry Inat, after a damning staff survey revealed wide discontent.
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Gawler Council chief executive Henry Inat is under investigation for claims staff feel bullied by him.
Councillors on Monday night supported an external inquiry into Mr Inat, whose staff recently said they felt “worthless”, “neglected”, “disrespected”, “degraded”, “intimidated” and “pushed up against a wall” by him in a union survey.
Multiple workers said they felt bullied by him.
The council approved the investigation 6-4 in a meeting behind closed doors.
Councillors David Hughes, Paul Koch, Diane Fraser and Kelvin Goldstone did not support investigating the bullying allegations.
The same four councillors also voted to keep the decision secret, but lost.
Gawler Council will now seek advice on how best to manage the investigation, given it involves the chief executive.
Council development manager Ryan Viney, Cr Paul Little and former mayor Cr Brian Sambell have been charged with overseeing the process of appointing an investigator.
The investigation was approved at a special meeting called specifically to discuss the matter after Mayor Karen Redman last week refused to allow it as a motion without notice.
She advised that it should be raised at Gawler’s next general meeting at the end of the month – but multiple councillors were worried that would be too long to wait.
Cr Ian Tooley – who originally proposed the investigation – said it was essential to “clear the air”.
While people were saying that this could be damaging … the argument I had was that this is the only way to clear the air,” Cr Tooley said.
“We’re not saying the allegations are true but you have to respect the staff and their voice must be listened to, the CEO must be listened to and the allegations have to be tested for their veracity.”
Mr Inat said: “I refute the comments made in the ASU survey, about which the union has not contacted me directly”.
“While council has an established process for staff conduct complaints, I’m intending to fully cooperate with the external investigation,” he said.