AA chief fired over punch-up sues for £220m
THE AA boss sacked over a hotel brawl is suing the company for up to £220m – and claims he was victimised while suffering from stress.
Bob Mackenzie says he was picked on by fellow staff, even though he was executive chairman, and was suffering severe psychological problems when he attacked Mike Lloyd, the breakdown firm’s insurance head.
In papers that have been filed with the High Court, he paints a picture of a toxic boardroom culture.
The 65-year-old even claims his dismissal was linked to a row over whether the firm should be sold, a suggestion that sent AA shares up 15pc yesterday on hopes of a deal.
Mackenzie ( pictured) says he is wrongly being denied bonus payments worth up to £220m because he should never have been dismissed.
The punch-up in the bar at a hotel in Surrey last July was captured on CCTV, although Mackenzie claims not to remember the details due to stress.
He was summoned by directors days later and was told that he was being sacked and would not be entitled to shares which he might have picked up as bonus payments.
Mackenzie then saw a psychologist who produced a report saying that the boss had struggled with his mental health. It suggested that bullying behaviour of fellow directors – particularly finance chief Martin Clarke – was largely responsible.
‘For some months, Bob has been experiencing symptoms which include raised anxiety, sleep disturbance, concentration loss, forgetfulness, increased emotionality and reduced emotional self-regulation with irritability and outbursts of anger,’ the report said.
‘These symptoms could be the consequence of a progressive neurological illness. But the symptoms could also be the consequence of a toxic combination of extremely high stress levels over the last few years, including feeling completely undermined by his executive colleague and taking on unreasonable levels of responsibility, combined with exhaustion from sleep deprivation, excessive alcohol consumption over the last four to five months as a form of self-medication, and poorly controlled diabetes.’
In response, the board said no illness could excuse Mackenzie’s brawling and it felt his medical claims were a ‘try-on’ to get his bonus back.
Mackenzie, who was paid £1.4m in his last full year at the firm, is trying to hold on to 33m shares he was due if the firm hit certain targets. If these are not paid, he argues he should get damages equal to their value – between £85m and £220m if the company hits certain targets, with annual dividends of £3.3m.
Mackenzie claims to have been badly treated by colleagues for years. He vetoed Clarke’s plan to sell the home emergency service, and to combine its insurance arm with rival Hastings, he claims.
On the day of the fight, Clarke arranged – without Mackenzie’s approval – for Hastings’ banker Credit Suisse to give the board a presentation. It is alleged Clarke also held secret meetings with other directors and managers, and urged them to criticise the former boss.
Mackenzie says he was forced out so that he could no longer block a sale and so that other directors could buy his shares at a knockdown price under the terms of the dismissal policy.
The firm and its directors deny the allegations.
The AA said: ‘ We were astonished to receive the claim after the documentation was leaked by or on behalf of Mr Mackenzie to the press earlier in the day in a clear breach of confidentiality.
‘The board and all the directors acted with utmost propriety and appropriately in respect of the matters of this claim. Mackenzie was dismissed on August 1, 2017 having launched an unprovoked, sustained and violent attack on a colleague. We will vigorously contest the claim.’ AA shares rose 15.4pc, or 11.36p, to 85.36p.