Sacked Northern Areas Council chief executive Colin Byles claims unfair dismissal, is suing former employers

A council chief sacked after forging a Covid letter is suing his former employer for nearly $400,000 for wrongful dismissal and claims he was bullied.

A former regional council chief executive says he was unfairly dismissed for fabricating a letter and will seek close to $400,000 in damages.

Colin Byles was sacked as chief executive of Northern Areas Council on July 27 – with nearly two years remaining of his contract worth about $200,000 a year.

Mr Byles’s lawyer Greg Griffin told The Advertiser court proceedings would be lodged next week in the District Court.

“He was subject to quite significant bullying and unfair treatment by the council,” Mr Griffin said. “(It was a) manifestly unfair termination and it was an orchestrated dismissal.”

Councillors voted to terminate Mr Byles’s contract in July after an ombudsman investigation found he had committed professional misconduct and should face disciplinary action.

Mr Byles was found to have fabricated a letter to a medical clinic, which complained about the council’s handling of Covid restrictions in the Mid North.

Northern Areas Council former chief executive Colin Byles. Picture: Supplied

Northern Areas Council mayor Ben Browne. Picture: Supplied

Mr Byles had been asked whether he had sent a response to the clinic after it told a local media outlet it had not heard back from the council.

In a statement to State Ombudsman Wayne Lines, Mr Byles said he had told the December council meeting the letter had been sent, but when he was asked to forward the mayor a copy he discovered he had not sent a reply.

“I must have thought I had replied. I panicked and created a reply letter, backdated it and sent this to the mayor,” he said in the statement.

Mr Lines said Mr Byles had told him he had “panicked” as he was under increased pressure from mayor Ben Browne over a previous misconduct investigation for a similar issue.

However, Mr Lines said such misconduct “undermines trust in the council, sets a poor example for staff and raises questions about his fitness for the role”.

The council sought legal advice on terminating Mr Byles employment.

However, Mr Griffin said Mr Byles should “not have been terminated on that basis”.

“He was operating under an incredibly stressful and unreasonable workplace environment, which no person should have to work under,” he said.

Northern Areas Council mayor Ben Browne said “on behalf of the council, I would reject those comments” that Mr Byles was unfairly dismissed.

“He was terminated for misconduct, I will refer you to the ombudsman report into Northern Areas Council,” Mr Browne said.

“The CEO never raised any issues in relation to treatment in the workplace.”

The Northern Areas Council office is in Jamestown and the district covers Spalding, Laura and Gladstone.