CEO Claims Decade Of Bullying At Cockburn
EMBATTLED Cockburn Council has launched an investigation into claims of bullying and harassment against CEO Stephen Cain.
Mr Cain claims his workplace is unsafe and on October 23 handed the council a doctor’s note stating he was unfit to perform his duties until November 8.
Mr Cain’s allegations were repeated in a lengthy email to the mayor and all elected members who last night met to discuss the ‘confidential matter’, the agenda published on the council website.
The email does not name the people behind the bullying Mr Cain claims he has endured for the past 10 years. But according to StreetWise sources, “it doesn’t take much to put two and two together about who he’s referring to”.
Most of the email deals with what Mr Cain says is stress and his inability to cope with the number of complaints against council.
StreetWise understands Mr Cain, surprisingly, insisted at the special meeting that he wanted to return to work on November 8 to head the investigation into his own claims. Councillors refused.
Council also voted down a motion to publish the decision of the special meeting, whose minutes will say the matter was discussed confidentially.
StreetWise has written to council asking whether Mr Cain would be on special paid leave until the completion of the investigation, which is expected to take up to six months.
Streetwise also asked how many complaints it had received to cause Mr Cain the stress he complained of and whether the council had investigated them if and when raised by Mr Cain.
Mayor Logan Howlett assured the CEO the City was committed to providing a safe workplace. He said: “Council`s resolution was made based on the implementation of a confidential process as determined by Council. No further information is available for publication at this stage. Stuart Downing is acting CEO until further notice.”
Mr Cain’s allegations follow newly elected deputy mayor Lara Kirkwood’s apology for having defamed East Ward Councillor Lee-Anne Smith.
As reported by StreetWise, (‘Cockburn Deputy Mayor Admits She Lied’, October 26) Cr Kirkwood paid Cr Smith $20,000 for publishing damaging allegations about her in the media in 2018.
Cr Kirkwood acknowledged having “hurt” Ms Smith, the former deputy mayor since 2017, who posted that the fallout of Cr Kirkwood’s lies had forced her to seek medical help.
Cr Kirkwood’s public admission outraged residents who are organising a petition calling on the council to remove her as deputy mayor because they would not have voted for her had they knew about the allegations before the local government elections.
The petition also calls on Mr Cain to step down as CEO.
Read more at www.streetwisemedia.com.
