Post Office boss cleared of misconduct after investigation into sexism and bullying claims
17 April 2024, 11:41 | Updated: 17 April 2024, 11:44
Post Office boss Nick Read has been "exonerated of all misconduct allegations" after an external report into bullying and sexism claims, the organisation has said.
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The organisation said Nick Read would continue to lead it following the independent review.
Mr Read, who will continue to lead the troubled organisation, had been accused of bullying and sexism by the firm's former chairman, Henry Staunton, as part of a long running row.
The bombshell allegation was revealed in a letter published by MPs last month, in which Mr Staunton said CEO Mr Read's former HR director had reportedly given a detailed account into his alleged behaviour.
In the letter to the Commons business committee, Mr Staunton said: "As the only woman in the senior management team . . . she felt that she was being treated by Read and his henchmen as a 'pain in the a**e' for focusing on tackling the toxic culture rather than prioritising Read's salary.
"It came after a marathon committee session into the Horizon IT scandal in February, when Mr Staunton claimed Mr Read had threatened to resign four times over his 'too low' £400,000 salary after 'badgering over' it.
The Post Office said Mr Staunton's claims contained "inaccuracies and falsehoods." Last month Mr Read told his staff that he "absolutely refutes" bullying claims.
On Wednesday, the organisation said the report - which it is not releasing - had exonerated Mr Read of all misconduct allegations and he had the 'united backing of the board'.
In a statement, the Post Office said: "Over the last few months an independent barrister has been investigating a Speak Up complaint into various allegations, which included a number of misconduct allegations against our CEO, Nick Read. Following several interviews and examination of documents by the barrister, Nick has been exonerated of all the misconduct allegations and has the full and united backing of the board to continue to lead the business.
"The board regards the Speak Up process as critical to the open and supportive culture it wants to encourage at the Post Office. The integrity of that Speak Up process relies on confidentiality for whistleblowers and therefore we will not be providing further detail on this or any other Speak Up investigation. It is unacceptable that this specific process was referred to in the public domain but notwithstanding that, Post Office wants to make clear that Speak Up allegations will always be thoroughly and consistently investigated, whoever they are aimed at.
"The external investigator has made some recommendations on where improvements can be made to Post Office's processes. Those recommendations are helpful and we will ensure that they are properly and promptly addressed going forward.
"We will not be commenting further on this matter."
In a statement following the conclusion of the report into Nick Read's behaviour, a department for Business and Trade spokesman said: "Ministers are pleased to confirm that the independent barrister has cleared the Post Office CEO, Nick Read, of the allegations against him and he remains in post and has the confidence of the Government.
"We feel this report has drawn a line under the issue and now regard the matter as closed, which allows us to turn our full attention to ensuring postmasters are compensated quickly and fairly.
"The Government has already paid out £190 million to over 2,800 Post Office victims.
"This comes as legislation makes its way through Parliament to quash the convictions of hundreds of innocent subpostmasters wrongly convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal."
