Details leak about Sutton inquiry

New allegations have emerged about former CERA boss Roger Sutton – including an alleged sexually suggestive remark about the PM's wife, which could well explain a lack of support from the Beehive.

State services commissioner Iain Rennie continued to stone-wall last night, refusing to detail what he calls "serious misconduct" by Roger Sutton. The void of information has been filled by the social media mob, which has vilified the woman at the centre of the allegations for (in Mr Sutton's telling) making a complaint about jokes and hugs. Others speculated that worse behaviour by Mr Sutton is being covered up.

Now the woman behind the allegations – or at least someone advocating on her behalf – has hit back. 

The Press has published details of the complaint against Mr Sutton. The Christchurch paper says it made contact with the victim but she refused to talk. The following was obtained from an un-named source: 

• Suggesting to young female staff that they participate in "visible G-string Friday."
• Unwanted, body-press hugs.
• Asking the complainant whom she considered to be "hot" and "sexy" and who she would like to have sex with.
• Calling female staff members "honey" and "sweetie."

The Press also sighted evidence given by another CERA employee during the SSC inquiry, which includes the allegations that:

• Mr Sutton made a sexually suggestive comment about Prime Minister John Key's wife, Bronagh, in the presence of the chief executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Andrew Kibblewhite.
• Mr Sutton insisted on sitting close to a female employee during meetings and touching her arm.

Although the alleged comment about Ms Key was part of the inquiry evidence, Mr Sutton vigorously denied it this morning, telling More FM, "That's just ludicrous and ridiculous that I would make any comment like that and I've talked about that with the person I've alleged to have said that to, Andrew Kibblewhite … he says I made no such statement."

Meanwhile, hours after an apperance by Mr Rennie on Campbell Live, the State Services Commission released a new statement in a bid to to clarify his position (see RAW DATA below). It says while the report into his behaviour did not recommend Mr Sutton's dissmissal, Mr Rennie personally thought resigning was "the right decision."

Although he largely stonewalled during the interview, Mr Rennie did characterise Mr Sutton's behaviour as "serious misconduct" for the first time (and clarifying he mis-spoke when he earlier said "sexual misconduct").

Mr Rennie also confirmed he was looking at sanctions against Mr Sutton for breaching the confidentiality clause of his settlement with the SSC. Mr Sutton spoke to media about the investigation before an official joint press conference with Mr Rennie on Monday afternoon, at which the CERA boss announced his decision to volunterarily resign.

He said Mr Sutton, who was on a salary of $500,000, was getting no payout beyond contractual obligations. He did not give a figure for Mr Sutton's payout.

Yesterday saw former senior CERA communications manager Tina Nixon take to Facebook to attack her former boss for what she called a "breath-taking PR snowjob".

Ms Nixon, who declined to speak to NBR, later called Fairfax journalist Andrea Vance "my new hero." An opinion piece by Ms Vance said the the complainant had been "victim-shamed" twice by the State Services Commission; first by being sent to work from home during the eight-week investigation (a detail later confirmed by Mr Rennie) and secondly by Monday's press conference, at which Mr Sutton trivialised the allegations and Mr Rennie failed to detail more serious behaviour.

RAW DATA: State Services Commission statement, Nov 18, 8.30pm

STATE SERVICES COMMISSIONER RESPONDS

State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie today said the investigation into Roger Sutton’s conduct was robust.

Roger Sutton chose to resign as chief executive of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) yesterday.

“Roger Sutton made the right decision to resign,” Mr Rennie said. 

The State Services Commission (SSC) carried out an investigation into a complaint of serious misconduct by Mr Sutton from a CERA staff member. 

The investigation report was provided to the commissioner last week. In large part the report upheld the complaint.   

While the report found that Mr Sutton’s conduct did not always meet the standard expected of public servants, it did not recommend dismissal in this instance.

Every State servant must be able to work in a safe environment where they are treated with professionalism and respect,” Mr Rennie said.

The safety of all public service staff in the workplace must never be compromised.

“I expect high standards of Public Service chief executives and I take any complaints of inappropriate conduct very seriously,” Mr Rennie said.

“Throughout this process, SSC has worked with CERA to ensure the complainant has been supported and will receive any ongoing support required,” said Mr Rennie. “As his employer, we have also provided support to Mr Sutton,” Mr Rennie said.

To protect the privacy of the parties involved in this complaint and to respect undertakings of confidentiality, the investigation report and details of the exact nature of the complaint will not be released.

If any state servant feels they have been subjected to inappropriate conduct in the workplace they should report it to their manager or Human Resources team.

“I expect every government agency to have clear policies and processes to deal with complaints fairly and confidentially, and to provide appropriate support to complainants and those whose conduct is investigated,” Mr Rennie said.