23 July 2017 — CHS Newsletter 13 — Discredit the Whistleblower

Dear Member,

When an organisation is being exposed by a whistleblower, it may attempt to discredit him in an effort to distract from the message. I know how that feels.

Our company is in serious financial decline but the Board refuses to acknowledge the situation. Instead they want to remove me because I am telling the members the sad facts of our predicament.

I served on the Owners Committee from 2005, then as a Director on the Board from 2009 to 2014 and I was re-elected in April 2017. I am the most experienced director on the Board and I am familiar with all aspects of the company. And that’s why they want to silence me.

There has been, and there will be, much dirt thrown around about me but the official reason that I am being removed is as stated in the minutes of the Board meeting of 25 May, when these proposals were passed:

“Paul O’Brien proposed that any member of the Board who will not sign the confidentiality agreement be removed from the Board.”

“Paul O’Brien proposed that an EGM be held to remove KF from the Board of Directors.”

Confidentiality Agreement or Gagging Order
Our company was incorporated in 1998. In 19 years there has never been a confidentiality agreement. 5 days after I was elected 2 of the 5 directors had a Board meeting and instructed the solicitor to draft one.

It has a two-stage lock-down on information:
- The Board must approve any Director’s request for information
- The Board must approve any Director’s communication to members

The results are:
- A Director can be prevented from seeing any company information (contrary to company law)
- A Director can be prevented from telling the truth about the company

An active director is thereby rendered passive. I was elected by members who were concerned about the financial state of our company. They do not want me to be silent. I support freedom of expression, transparency and openness; not control, secrecy and censorship.

One can only conclude that the confidentiality agreement was drawn up to hide the truth about the company from its members.

Legal Fees
The finances for CHS continue to break new records. The latest available accounts are for 2015 and they show that the amount spent on Legal and Professional Fees was 36,000 euros (budget 5,000). That is more than twice the previous maximum. Our company secretary, Shay Gannon, has told me that 70,000 was spent in 2016, another new record (budget 10,000). See attachment — Legal Fees.

The Board is not afraid to spend when it comes to legal costs. The budget is irrelevant. Large sums have been spent on legal teams at the Workplace Relations Commission, obtaining senior counsels’ opinions, and on unfair dismissal costs and claims. We used to have one firm of solicitors, but now we have three.

Suspended Employee
Security Guard Lewis Laffin was suspended on 19 May. This employee is taking a Personal Injuries action against the company, a former director and the building manager. Despite three disciplinary hearings, he remains suspended. He is starting his 10th week of suspension on full pay, costing us 5,532 euros. Meanwhile unlicensed workers who filled in for him have been paid overtime.

The other directors cannot find any reason to fire him so he is being kept on the payroll. And they don’t mind wasting our money in doing so.

Obsession with Control
There is an obsession in this company about control, and eliminating any adverse comment. Silencing the director who emailed the members, suspending the employee who sued the company and now our Company Secretary has issued legal threats to a resident who complained on Facebook. See attachment ‘Shay Gannon Facebook’.

Shooting the messenger will not kill the message.

EGM Proxy Votes
This is your last chance to send in your proxy and it must be in by Tuesday 6.00 pm. You can email the attached form to chsadmin@sfpm.ie

Unless you’ve already done so, please let me know if you’ve given me your proxy. I will keep a tally to check the votes I get at the meeting.

And if you are attending the EGM don’t forget to bring Photo ID.

Regards,
Kevin Fitzpatrick
Director
Custom House Square Management CLG