LAUNCESTON City Council has sacked its museum chief saying that it no longer has confidence in his managerial abilities.
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The removal of 54-year-old Patrick Filmer-Sankey as Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery director took just 20 minutes in a meeting late yesterday attended by him and council general manager Robert Dobrzynski.
Mr Dobrzynski issued a brief statement later which said that the council was terminating Mr Filmer- Sankey's employment agreement effective immediately.
Mr Filmer-Sankey said that, despite expecting yesterday's action, he was shocked at the "surgical strike", and had no plans for the future.
Mr Filmer-Sankey had been director of the museum since December 2006.
Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten said he had mixed feelings about Mr Filmer- Sankey's sacking because he had achieved a lot at the museum.
Alderman van Zetten agreed that action to fix the staff problems at the museum that led to Mr Filmer-Sankey's departure could have been done a lot earlier.
Mr Filmer-Sankey, who is on a salary of about $110,000, will have the remaining six months of his contract as part of his termination agreement.
Mr Dobrzynski said no further action will be taken against him.
The sacking comes after more than a week of speculation about Mr Filmer- Sankey's future and a number of public statements from both him and Mr Dobrzynski about staff problems at the museum going back more than 18 months.
Mr Filmer-Sankey had previously refused to sign a letter of resignation he said was prepared for him and a deed of release he said would have prevented him from speaking publicly about the matter.
Mr Dobrzynski said that a council-instigated, independent investigation into complaints of bullying and harassment at the museum had found that Mr Filmer-Sankey had not fulfilled his managerial responsibilities when the complaints were made and in the months after.
"As far as I am concerned, it is a fundamental responsibility of mine to provide a safe working environment for all employees," Mr Dobrzynski said.
"I will not compromise on this responsibility no matter how difficult the decisions are that I have to make."
Mr Dobrzynski said earlier this week that he was astonished when he took up the top council job three months ago that nothing had been done about the museum situation much earlier.
Mr Filmer-Sankey said that he had spent the hour preceding yesterday's termination meeting "wandering around Royal Park".
He said that he was extremely sad that he would not be there for the official opening of the redeveloped site early next year.
"I did offer to stay until the opening of Royal Park and then go but that was rejected," he said.