Sutton quits

Stuff reports:

Roger Sutton has resigned as chief executive of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA).

He had been under investigation for the last seven weeks after a complaint of sexual harassment from a senior staff member.

The allegation accused him of making inappropriate jokes and comments, and giving her an unwelcome hug.

A report provided to the State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie did not establish conduct which would have led to Sutton being dismissed and Rennie said he would not have asked him to stand down. 

“However, Mr Sutton offered his resignation and this was accepted,” Rennie said in a statement today.

A sad end to Sutton’s role at CERA. He was universally praised as the perfect person for the job when he was appointed. While he has obviously had some detractors during his tenure, he still remained very well respected.

We don’t know the details of the allegations, and are unlikely to know them. But it seems they are at the inappropriate humour side of things, rather than deliberate harassment. The SSC said that he would not have been sacked for them.