Two senior Derby City Council officers are ‘currently out of the office' after a row over two fact finding exercises into the former chief executive, The MJ understands.
A council spokesperson insisted no officers had been suspended but messages to director of policy, insight and communications Heather Greenan and monitoring officer Emily Feenan this week received an automatic reply that said both employees were out of the office with ‘no access to emails'.
It is believed Labour leader Cllr Nadine Peatfield was ‘not happy' with fact finding exercises by Feenan and Greenan that found there was no case for former chief executive Paul Simpson to answer after he was informally accused of being involved in sexual activity on council premises.
Sources suggested Simpson strongly denied the claims against him, that he was not subject to any disciplinary process, and that his announcement that he was standing down in April was voluntary.
According to sources, it was claimed the fact finding exercises ‘served to provide a cover up' and an independent review is now underway.
Councillors were told last month about the ‘temporary changes' and that Greenan and Feenan were ‘currently out of the business'. Neither responded to a request for comment.
The issue was one of the first to land on the desk of interim chief executive Sam Dennis, who took over after Simpson left.
A Derby source said: ‘The current chief executive is absolutely right to investigate this matter and act upon what she has found. That process has got to take its course.'
Asked if there was an ongoing investigation into these matters and who was leading it, a council spokesperson said: ‘We do not comment on the employment status of any individual colleagues or on employment matters.'
A Derby statement added: ‘Paul Simpson resigned to join another organisation. No officers have been suspended. The council will not be providing any further comments.'
Peatfield also declined to comment.
Simpson, who is currently interim executive director of corporate resources at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, declined to comment.
