The former chief executive officer of TasRacing resigned for "personal reasons" just two months after a workplace culture review delivered a scathing assessment of the organisation's senior leaders. Now, he is running the national peak body for racing in Australia.
Paul Eriksson, who was appointed as CEO of TasRacing in 2019, resigned in June despite extending his contract with TasRacing by a further three years just four months prior.
His resignation came two months after an external consultant conducted a 54-question employee survey that revealed less than 20 per cent of TasRacing employees thought its executive team "leads well and leads by example".
The survey and review, which was obtained by the ABC through Right to Information laws, garnered responses from almost three-quarters of current and recently departed TasRacing employees.
It revealed that only 23.4 per cent of employees thought the executive team created "a positive and constructive workplace culture" and that TasRacing employees were largely dissatisfied with the organisation's support for those experiencing mental health challenges.
Almost all employees surveyed disagreed interactions with external stakeholders, such as trainers and racing clubs, were "positive and appropriate".
In the summary report of the culture review, TasRacing chairperson Gene Phair said it was "apparent to the board that substantial change needs to occur in order to address issues raised in the cultural review".
TasRacing would not comment on whether the outcome of the review and survey played a part in Mr Eriksson's departure.
A spokesperson for Racing Minister Madeline Ogilvie told the ABC Mr Eriksson's departure was an "employment matter for the TasRacing board".
A TasRacing spokesperson said the organisation did not comment on individual employees, and culture reviews were a "commonly used business practice to check in with employees and are certainly not unique to TasRacing".
But the ABC understands the culture review and employee survey was launched by the board as a direct response to concerns raised by a former employee about the conduct of the executive team, including Mr Eriksson.
After leaving TasRacing, Mr Eriksson returned to Sydney and in September was appointed as the CEO of Racing Australia.
When contacted by the ABC, Mr Eriksson maintained his resignation was purely for personal reasons and a desire to return to Sydney to be closer to family.
The ABC asked Ms Ogilvie whether she knew of a complaint against Mr Eriksson in the lead-up to the review, but her office did not provide an answer.
Government, TasRacing disingenuous about departure, opposition says
Another more detailed report, which contained employee interviews and testimonies, was also handed to the TasRacing board but was withheld from a Right to Information request by the ABC due to confidentiality concerns.
More than 60 per cent of those surveyed consented to an interview. However, it is not known if employees who took part were identified in the report.
Opposition Racing Spokesman Dean Winter said the government and TasRacing had been disingenuous about Mr Eriksson's departure.
"To come out and say that only two or three months after his reappointment that he has decided to pick up and go back to the mainland is very unbelievable," he said.
"For the minister and the TasRacing board to pretend that the reasons [for Mr Eriksson's departure] were exclusively because of a desire to return to the mainland stinks of a cover-up.
"What we've seen now is that more serious issues were afoot in terms of the workings of TasRacing.
"The Tasmanian racing industry deserves to have an open and transparent understanding of how TasRacing is going."
Last year, it was revealed Mr Eriksson was the subject of multiple complaints following an "intense" back and forth with stakeholders at a meeting of the state's Greyhound Reference Group and was referred for communications training by the TasRacing board.
An investigator from Wise Workplace concluded three of the four complaints against Mr Eriksson were unsubstantiated and one was partially substantiated.
"The culture review clearly shows that there have been massive issues in TasRacing and the CEO's role in that needs to be questioned," Mr Winter said.
On November 1, the government announced it had commenced the search for TasRacing's next CEO.
