Call to sack chair shows the drama is not over for Rebel Sport owner
Super Retail says Ownership Matters and ACSI’s description of the board’s actions when allegations against Heraghty first emerged in late 2023 are “neither accurate nor complete”.
The board appears to be hiding behind an investigation by independent legal advisers that cleared Heraghty of wrongdoing.
“The board acted on this advice,” Super Retail said of the crucial decision to defend a disastrous legal battle.
The allegations before the board at the time and made public through court documents are astounding.
This includes allegations that the relationship between Heraghty and Kelly spilled into the workplace, through allegations of bullying by senior managers, allegations of breaches of the Companies Act and the board’s questionable response to whistleblowers exposing corporate turmoil.
Ownership Matters was particularly alarmed last year by allegations that Kelly, who was laid off in December 2023, had been rehired as a consultant to recruit new board members, including a new chairman. Soldiers who would eventually become Heraghty’s bosses.
Ownership Matters founder Dean Paatsch asked: “When did the board learn of the relationship between the CEO and the head of HR? Did the head of HR return as a consultant to advise the board on the selection of the new chairman and non-executive directors after the board received whistleblower complaints about its relationship with the CEO?”
Former Super Retail Group chief legal officer Rebecca Farrell and former company secretary Amelia Berczelly at Federal Court hearings last year. Credit: James Brickwood
Super Retail still hasn’t answered those questions, but its response to proxy advisers defended its decision to threaten Farrell and Berczelly with defamation proceedings over a statement published by their lawyers in April last year, shortly after flagging the retailer’s legal claim.
Super Retail’s response to the Ownership Matters report says Harmers’ statement “contains serious allegations against the entire board which are adverse to the interests of shareholders”.
Given that the cost to investors is almost certainly in the tens of millions of dollars and that the investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission is ongoing, shareholders may want to make up their own minds about these serious allegations against the board, then led by Sally Pitkin.
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Harmers Workplace Lawyers’ statement last year said Berczelly and Farrell were not the only former Super Retail employees to apply to them.
The company did not say whether it resolved any legal complaints with any of these other employees, bute Australian Financial Review It was revealed that another law officer, who worked around the same time as Berczelly and Farrell, had initiated proceedings against the group.
What is clear is that the new complainant will not face a legal campaign based on a relentless and costly litigation strategy, as Berczelly and Farrell did.
Berczelly claims the retailer drove him to the brink of suicide and bankruptcy as punishment for bringing allegations of an affair to light.
Had Super Retail’s costly legal strategy succeeded in forcing a pre-trial settlement, Heraghty might have avoided the courtroom showdown. He would avoid the legal scrutiny that would force him to reveal details that led to his sudden dismissal last month and the loss of millions of dollars in bonuses.
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