Charity CEO Ordered to Pay £2,000 After Unfair Dismissal of Employee
Tribunal finds CEO Matthew Gibbs engaged in aggressive behavior and dismissed an employee without proper investigation.
The chief executive of a charity has been ordered to pay £2,000 in compensation to a former employee who was unfairly dismissed after complaining about his behavior. Matthew Gibbs, CEO of The Carrbridge Centre, shouted "I am the CEO" at support worker Julie Mayes and was heard screaming in her face after she intervened when he was being hostile toward volunteers.
The Liverpool Employment Tribunal heard that Gibbs's conduct also included shouting, swearing, and throwing boxes, which led to one volunteer resigning. Mayes also alleged that Gibbs used inappropriate sexualized language and, on one occasion, jumped on a table and gyrated.
Mayes began working for The Carrbridge Centre, a charity supporting vulnerable families, children, and the elderly in Wirral, Merseyside, in January 2022. The tribunal noted that tensions between Mayes and Gibbs escalated over a six-to-eight-month period, which Mayes attributed to his mental health issues. She described his behavior as increasingly aggressive, including rough handling of his dog.
In July 2024, Mayes brought her concerns to two of the charity's trustees, explaining that Gibbs's behavior could trigger trauma in service users who had backgrounds of abuse. Following this meeting, Gibbs allegedly misrepresented her concerns, accusing her of alleging sexual abuse.
On August 21, 2024, after a service user complained about crates blocking a doorway, Gibbs reacted with anger and swearing towards volunteers. Mayes attempted to de-escalate the situation by standing between Gibbs and the volunteers. The tribunal heard that Gibbs then became angry with Mayes, incorrectly accusing her of falsely alleging sexual abuse during the earlier trustee meeting. Mayes described him screaming in her face, declaring "I am the CEO," and stated she was left "in a state" following the confrontation. She was subsequently instructed to work from home.
An anonymous communication received by the trustees on September 4, 2024, claimed Mayes had been complaining about Gibbs at community meetings, suggesting a "witch hunt" against the CEO. This led to a fact-finding meeting with Mayes on September 12, 2024. During this meeting, Mayes reiterated her concerns about Gibbs's aggressive incidents and inappropriate conduct, including the dancing incident.
Despite Mayes believing the meeting concerned her relationship with Gibbs, the trustees focused on the anonymous message and community meeting allegations, which she had not been informed about in advance. Mayes was then invited to a disciplinary hearing, with a letter stating she had participated in a group with the "malicious aim of removing the current management and the CEO." She was dismissed for gross misconduct on September 30, 2024.
An appeal was unsuccessful, prompting Mayes to take her case to an employment tribunal. Employment Judge Alan Johnson ruled that Mayes had been unfairly dismissed, finding that the charity failed to properly investigate the evidence and placed undue reliance on an anonymous witness without corroboration. The tribunal concluded that the charity lacked meaningful evidence to support the claims made against Mayes regarding the community meetings. Mayes's claim of dismissal arising from making a protected disclosure was not upheld.