SCRD Board imposes sanctions following workplace incident

The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) Board met on October 26, 2023, to address the Board’s response to a workplace incident that occurred during a public Board meeting in the spring of 2023. The incident involved Alternate Director John Henderson and SCRD staff and was witnessed by members of the public.

Following the incident, the SCRD retained an independent investigator to conduct a workplace investigation. The investigator concluded that Alternate Director John Henderson breached the SCRD Respectful Workplace Policy and the SCRD Board Code of Conduct.

The SCRD has a duty to ensure the health and safety of its workers, and to take all reasonable steps to prevent or minimize workplace bullying and harassment. Further to this duty, at the Board meeting on October 26 the Board passed a motion to censure Alternate Director John Henderson, and to request that District of Sechelt Council remove Alternate Director Henderson from his role on the SCRD Board for the remainder of his term as Mayor of the District of Sechelt.

The portion of yesterday’s meeting where the workplace incident was discussed was closed to the public (also known as ‘in camera’) to ensure the privacy of SCRD staff involved.

The SCRD considers the release of information about its response to this incident to be in the public interest. However, to protect the privacy of the SCRD staff involved in the incident, the SCRD will not be releasing further details of the workplace investigation.