Scottish Daily Mail

Samaritans drop their new chief after bully claims

- By Kumail Jaffer

THE Samaritans has dropped its incoming chief executive over claims bullied staff at his former charity were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements.

Jeremy Hughes will no longer head the suicide prevention charity after a probe exposed alleged payments of up to £750,000 to Alzheimer’s Society staff silenced by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

Two former employees came forward on Monday to ask that Mr Hughes, who was due to start in May, not be allowed to take up his new post.

It was alleged he presided over a toxic culture at the Alzheimer’s Society – where he is still chief executive – and displayed bullying behaviour to staff.

This led to staff being paid off so they stayed silent, according to an investigat­ion by The Guardian.

Peter Storey, of trade union Unite, said yesterday the allegation­s were ‘deeply troubling’. He added: ‘Given the fact the Samaritans is in the very early stages of recovering from a toxic bullying culture which has damaged many of its staff, Unite does not believe that Mr Hughes is the right person.

‘Unite believes it is incumbent on the trustees at the Samaritans to rescind the appointmen­t and instead appoint someone who has a track record in tackling a toxic bullying culture.’

A Samaritans spokesman said: ‘In light of events, the board of trustees has decided it cannot proceed with the appointmen­t of Jeremy Hughes. This decision is not in any way based on the allegation­s, which Samaritans is not in a position to judge.’

The spokesman confirmed a search for a new CEO would soon be under way.

An 11-page whistleblo­wer complaint, warning that NDAs could be viewed as an attempt to silence staff at the Alzheimer’s Society, was made to the Charity Commission in February 2018. Details about the complaint were disclosed last week. However, the watchdog did not investigat­e, something it now admits was a mistake.

The society claimed the £750,000 sum was inaccurate and said it only used settlement­s for ‘legitimate reasons’.

It reportedly declined to give an alternativ­e figure.

Charity official Corinne Mills said: ‘We are deeply concerned about the experience of the two ex-employees quoted. All complaints raised with us are taken very seriously and investigat­ed thoroughly.

‘Our evidence shows we have not and do not use settlement agreements or nondisclos­ure agreements to stop anyone reporting any whistleblo­wing, harassment or discrimina­tion complaints.’

Chief operating officer Kathryn Smith sent an email to staff on Monday, saying she was ‘deeply concerned’ by the allegation­s.

She wrote: ‘I have always been determined to ensure everyone at the Alzheimer’s Society has a positive working experience. Everything I do is in order to make the biggest difference for people affected by dementia.’

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