Council customer services manager William Robertson resigned on Monday and, with the approval of his general manager, left the role the same day.
He confirmed the move when contacted at home by the Otago Daily Times on Tuesday, saying he wanted to "look for opportunities elsewhere" and finished immediately to allow the council to move on quickly as well.
However, he denied allegations of staff bullying played any part in his decision to quit, despite an anonymous former employee claiming bullying and other problems were rife within the customer services agency he headed.
The former employee - who would not be named but worked in the agency under Mr Robertson - told the ODT staff relations within the department were "very bad" earlier this year, with a mediator called in "in an attempt to soothe things".
Team-building weekends had also been used to try to fix problems, but several turned into booze-fuelled nights with more problems and extra clean-up bills after bottles were smashed, the former employee said.
"Everything is paid for for the staff and really they are just a drinking session. When staff morale is low, they tend to throw booze at it."
Mr Robertson denied the claims when asked, saying "one or two" staffing issues had been addressed but bullying was not a problem within his department, and he had enjoyed working with staff.
However, council customer services general manager, Grant Strang - to whom Mr Robertson reported - confirmed steps had been taken to address "staff morale" issues within the department.
The steps had been agreed to by all 28 of the agency's staff, and had been under way for "quite some time", but he refused to detail them.
"Every member of the CSA has been involved in that process. This has not been an overnight thing.
"They have been hurt. They're still hurting a little bit, but they're confident and they're much more trusting about what the organisation is now doing to support them," he said.
He also refused to discuss the cause of the staff problems or whether there was any link to Mr Robertson's resignation "or anyone else's performance".
Council human resources manager Bruce Miller also refused to discuss either issue in detail.
When asked what he was doing to resolve any problems, he responded: "Not talking to the ODT".
"We have absolutely no intention of airing our affairs as an employer with the public. It's not tattle for the main street."
It was the second time claims of workplace bullying and other staff problems had been raised within the organisation in recent days.
The ODT learned earlier this month the council had employed business and life coach Sally Angus to address similar claims made by staff at the Dunedin Central Library.
One anonymous staff member told the ODT the library had become "a toxic place to work", while other concerns were raised in a leaked copy of the library's 2011 staff satisfaction survey.
Mr Strang confirmed agency staff satisfaction survey results also identified similar problems, and, when asked, said they were more widespread than one or two disgruntled staff.
"These things are not easy to unravel. There isn't one root cause. There's a number of things that quite often prompt staff issues."
Mr Robertson said he remained proud of his achievements serving customers and ratepayers during four and a-half years at the council.
The organisation faced "challenging times ahead", but "I have done what I can do and I'm proud of what I have done," he said.
