Lendy tribunal hears of “chaotic” and “toxic” final days
Lendy has been described in court as being a “chaotic” place to work, creating a “toxic atmosphere for anyone to work in.”
According to reporting by The Mouse in the Court blog, during day four of an ongoing employment tribunal, accountant Charles Bellringer gave evidence to the court where he was highly critical of the culture at the former peer-to-peer lending firm, which entered into administration in May 2019.
Former chief finance officer Kieran O’Connor is pursuing a claim of unfair dismissal against Lendy, as well as a claim in respect of detriment against former chief executive and director Liam Brooke.
He is seeking £6.6m in damages, which includes compensation for loss of salary (£750,000), loss of bonus (£2.75m), and £36,100 towards “hurt feelings and embarrassment at the circumstances of my dismissal“.
Read more: Zopa asked FCA to regulate P2P lending more than decade ago
The tribunal has revealed that there was a “laddish” culture at the firm, and senior management were prone to angry outbursts.
“This is a company, and you will have seen it in the administrators report, which is chaotic and which has what I would call an undesirable management style,” said Bellringer.
“Where a lot of shouting, and some abuse is thrown at the staff, I wouldn’t say that mainly comes from Mr O’Connor but shouting and criticising the staff creates a fairly toxic atmosphere for anyone to work in.”
Bellringer also shared that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had issues with O’Connor’s conduct, and pointed towards an “embarrassing” incident which took place at a meeting with the FCA in October 2018.
“That meeting was held in FCA headquarters in Edinburgh,” Bellringer said.
“The FCA had been interested to see Lendy’s legal advice in relation to a litigation matter but there were concerns that to share it with the FCA would result in a loss of privilege.
“… Kieran got up from his seat and crossed the room to where the FCA representatives (including Andrew Kay who was a manager of the department) were sitting and he placed the documents in question in front of them saying words to the effect that ‘he wasn’t supposed to share them but if he were to leave them there and they happened to read them….’.
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“Apparently the FCA representative was taken aback at this and told Kieran to return to his side of the table and to take the documents with him. I understand that he was also told that his behaviour was inappropriate.”
In a written statement, Brooke described the business “as being in chaos” by the end of October 2018.
“I don’t mind admitting that I found it a bit overwhelming,” he said.
“On 26 October 2018, when it became too intense, I even suggested that Lendy should have a new chief executive.”
Speaking to O’Connor, Brooke added: “I wish you hadn’t ever come near Lendy so you hadn’t had to have gone through this massive shit storm.”
The tribunal continues.
Read more: Tribunal reveals “confused” FCA approach to P2P regulation