A local government code of conduct panel investigated a complaint lodged last year by the council's former chief executive, Tony McMullen, after it came to his attention that female workers were distressed following interactions with Alderman Ridler.
The panel, made up of Lynn Mason, Philip Cocker and David Palmer, found Alderman Ridler breached the code on several days in November and December 2024. Its findings include that he rubbed a female staff member's back while she adjusted a fan in a committee room, put his arm around a staff member's waist, stood "unnecessarily directly behind" an employee who felt "trapped against the desk", and seized the name badge of a female employee from where it was clipped to her clothing on her chest.
He was also found to have told a staff member to "stick to your knitting and get back to the kitchen" during a council workshop, used a racial slur at a council workshop, and said during the council's annual general meeting, while looking at a female staff member, that he would "get his whip out" to speed up the distribution of the annual report.
The panel said Alderman Ridler continued to behave inappropriately after telling the council's acting chief executive in December 2024 that he was "clear on the issues raised". It found his behaviour showed a "lack of awareness of proper conduct in modern Australian society, particularly in the workplace" and a "wilful disregard for the advice given him".
Some elements of the complaint, including allegations that he bullied staff and breached sections of the code relating to expressing personal views, were dismissed. The panel said phrases such as "get the whip out" and "get back to the kitchen" were not expressions of personal views but "his patterns of speech". It also noted another alderman had spoken to Alderman Ridler about his behaviour with staff.