A series of candidates for the council said they received an email disclosing the content of a report by King’s Counsel Maria Dew about council boss Sandy Graham’s conduct.
Until this week, only a few people had seen the investigator’s report and most city councillors had not been allowed access to a copy.
Ms Dew had looked into a complaint about Ms Graham’s conduct and the council said the investigation was extremely thorough.
It resulted in "a resolution that involved an apology by Ms Graham and additional leadership training", a council spokesman said.
"The matter is now at an end.
"We encourage all parties — including councillors and election candidates — to respect the ongoing legal and privacy obligations in relation to this matter."
"The DCC will be notifying the Privacy Commissioner," the spokesman said.
Candidates had a mix of reactions to the leaks, including one producing a video on social media and others deleting the report or declining to read it.
The Otago Daily Times cannot report on the content of the report for legal reasons.
Mayoralty candidate Andrew Simms, who is leading a Future Dunedin team ticket, said the whole issue had not been handled well by the council.
He was one person who noted a decision-making panel of three saw the investigator’s report — Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich and Crs Bill Acklin and Marie Laufiso — but a dozen councillors were denied official access.
"The whole matter is gravely concerning and the disappointment for me is that it wasn't decisively dealt with at the time," Mr Simms said.
Otago Peninsula Community Board chairman Paul Pope responded to an email chain that he did not want to be involved, as he still had to work with the council and staff until the election.
"I have a responsibility to my community to look after their interests, rather than my own political ones, and I have a job to do until then," Mr Pope wrote.
"With that in mind, I want no part of it and I don't want to be sent a copy."
Mr Pope later received an email and said he stopped reading it once he worked out what it was.
Cr Andrew Whiley said the report was filtered out into his junk email and he deleted the file without looking at it.
He was concerned the report had been received and read by some people in the community.
Cr Whiley said he did not believe the council’s one-year extension of the chief executive’s contract should be revisited.
Cr Sophie Barker said she was appalled a confidential employment matter had been leaked.
As a past employer of staff, she was highly aware of proper processes and the legal and moral obligations to follow them, she said.
"I always adhere to the various confidentiality requirements when they are imposed upon us, and I have no doubt that the public expect us to uphold that responsibility," he said.
Confidentiality existed to protect the health and safety of employees and councillors had a duty to uphold trust, he said.
Green Party mayoral candidate Mickey Treadwell said he had not received a copy of the report.
He was not interested in reading it unless it was a publicly available document, he said.
"I appreciate transparency around council matters, certainly, but there are things that are confidential for a reason."
