Court documents reveal alleged toxic corporate culture within Super Retail Group
Court documents reveal the drama at Super Retail Group, including accusations the CEO misused company funds to carry on an illicit affair with the head of human resources.
Sensational court documents reveal for the first time details of an allegedly toxic work culture within Super Retail Group that extends to senior executives and board members – including accusations the chief executive misused company funds to carry on an illicit affair with the head of human resources, along with bullying, harassment and fiery staff meetings.
Chief executive Anthony Heraghty allegedly became so angry at one meeting of his most senior executives, who were airing complaints about improper workplace conditions, that he was “screaming at them to such an extent that he was spitting at them”, while serious conflicts of interest surrounding the CEO’s relationship with the head of HR were ignored or brushed over.
The court documents obtained by The Weekend Australian detail a deteriorating corporate culture stretching back four years at the company, which owns chains Rebel, Supercheap Auto, BCF and Macpac.
Secret relationship
At the centre of the growing corporate scandal was an alleged extramarital affair between Heraghty and its then head of HR, Jane Kelly.
Court documents claim Mr Heraghty’s executive assistant resigned in October 2023 because of the secret relationship, after having been informed by the CEO’s ex-wife of the affair and “observing questionable expenses, travel arrangements and the like in relation to the CEO and (Ms Kelly)”.
When Ms Kelly was made redundant at Super Retail on December 15 last year she immediately commenced work as a consultant to help Super Retail recruit a new chairman and other non-executive directors.
This is despite Super Retail’s CEO warning that the company’s most senior executives were “scared” of Ms Kelly and “what would happen if they fell afoul” of her, that Ms Kelly was “bullying them”, was “volatile” and that these executives only had the courage to make a complaint in December because she had left the company and she “could no longer directly affect their careers”.
“No-one felt that they could talk to the CEO about Ms Kelly because many people felt they would not be heard if they went to the CEO about (her),” the court document said.
In a statement of claim filed in the Federal Court by lawyers for Super Retail’s former chief legal officer Rebecca Farrell, she details executive meetings, emails and WhatsApp messages that saw dozens of complaints around the toxic corporate culture ignored or downplayed.
The statement of claim also raises a number of serious corporate governance issues at the company over the past four years. These include Mr Heraghty becoming involved in Ms Kelly’s eventual redundancy deal, a breakdown in the professional relationship between Ms Farrell as the company’s chief legal officer and company secretary and the chairman Ms Pitkin, board minutes and documents being kept from Ms Farrell and serious staff complaints around governance and conflicts of interest being kept from the board.
Chairman Sally Pitkin’s role
Many of these complaints were made directly to the chairman of Super Retail, veteran director Sally Pitkin, who is also a former director of casino operator Star Entertainment, but Ms Farrell has claimed she was accused by Ms Pitkin of being “dishonest” and she wouldn’t listen to her explanations on a range of issues.
As the relationship between the chairman and chief legal officer further broke down, Ms Farrell claimed in her court document that it seemed like Ms Pitkin “was angling to manage/ push the applicant (Ms Farrell) out of her job.”
Ms Farrell was later sacked in May as whistleblower accusations were made by a number of senior executives. The former legal boss along with another senior female executive launched action against the company in the Fair Work Commission.
A separate legal battle is being fought out in the Federal Court over allegations of improper workplace behaviour at Super Retail, and after months of intrigue, Ms Farrell’s statement of claim – produced by law firm Harmers, who is representing Ms Farrell – was finally released for the public to see on Friday.
The statement of claim reveals dozens of whistleblower and corporate governance complaints, some of which were first raised with Mr Heraghty and members of the Super Retail board, starting in June 2023. They later centred around the alleged affair between Mr Heraghty and Ms Kelly.
Misuse of funds
An unnamed whistleblower within Super Retail Group first alerted the highest ranks of the company in November 2023 that the chief executive Mr Heraghty and Ms Kelly were having an affair, which was linked to the misuse of company funds and bullying of staff.
This misuse of company funds included funding an international work trip. The statement of claim does not detail who went on the trip. According to the statement of claim the disclosure was made via a whistleblower complaints platform called Whispli.
The first Whispli disclosure included a complaint that asserted that the CEO and Ms Kelly, were engaged in an affair, the CEO’s executive assistant had left employment with Super Retail as a result of the affair and there had been inappropriate use of Super Retail’s funds through expense claims.
The whistleblower complaint also said Ms Kelly had bullied team members and that an “unhealthy culture was developing” because of the CEO’s and Ms Kelly’s conduct.
The whistleblower was later contacted by a senior executive to investigate the allegations but there was a conflict of interest because that senior executive’s ultimate boss was Ms Kelly.
The toxic corporate culture was experienced by many senior executives in meetings, it has been alleged. Mr Heraghty told some of the retailer’s most senior executives that they were “not welcome here” and to “get off” the bus and “go” after management made a series of complaints about the toxic culture within the company.
Staff survey
A survey of senior staff revealed a toxic culture, lost corporate values and concerns staff couldn’t make complaints due to the illicit relationship between CEO and head of HR.
“Staff needed a ‘leader … not encumbered by personal relationships or [who] is egotistical or creates a different class for himself or those close to him,” read one anonymous complaint in a staff survey conducted by the retailer.
At the end of a meeting to discuss the complaints and the staff survey with the executive leadership team (ELT), Mr Heraghty ‘‘glared’’ at certain individuals and said if they weren’t part of the team they could go.
“The CEO responded, while glaring at certain individuals within the ELT, including the applicant (Ms Farrell), that ‘if you’re not on the bus, then get off and go. Just go. You’re not welcome here. Because I don’t have the energy to deal with this,” the statement of claim said.
‘‘We’ve got too much to do,’’ Mr Heraghty allegedly said.
Ms Farrell also claims that the retailer’s staff “did not feel safe to speak up” because there was “too much conflict and nepotism” around the CEO and its HR head.
Ms Farrell also told the CEO there was a “lack of resources” in her team that made it “very difficult” for her to complete her work and that the workload was “excessive and unreasonable”.
Excessive workloads
Ms Farrell’s statement of claim also states that she made allegations of excessive workloads and risks to health and safety to the Super Retail chairman, Ms Pitkin.
In response to a second corporate governance complaint from Ms Farrell about the company and specifically Ms Farrell’s comment that she would continue to do her job and interact with chairman Pitkin in a professional and respectful manner, Mr Heraghty said: “You’ll have to do better than that!”
A spokesman for Super Retail told The Weekend Australian the company was aware of the statement of claim filed in the Federal Court. “The statement of claim is consistent with the allegations contained in our announcement to the ASX on 26 April 2024.
“We do not accept the untested allegations that are set out in the statement of claim. As previously announced, Super Retail Group will vigorously defend the court proceedings in relation to these matters.”
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