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A CPA Australia executive who defended his subordinate against what he alleged was bullying by chief executive Alex Malley lost his job after making a formal complaint about The Naked CEO's behaviour.
In an interview with an investigator, the executive accused Mr Malley of being a volatile and aggressive leader who ignored the correct process for a human resources complaint from a mid-level manager who helped him organise an important CPA conference.
Mr Malley said the manager makes him wants to "vomit", feels "sick at the sight of her" and "she was not going to bring him down," the executive told the investigator, according to a record of their interview on November 24, 2011.
Mr Malley also said, according to the executive, that his executive team didn't support him and "no one's got my back".
'Completely vindicated'
The details of the complaint adds to the pressure on Mr Malley, who is the target of a campaign by some CPA members to get him to resign over his $1.79 million pay, heavy promotional spending, lack of transparency and large losses in CPA's new financial advice business.
A CPA spokesman said the complaint was thoroughly reviewed by an external reviewer. "The independent review concluded that the allegations were not substantiated and the CEO was completely vindicated," he said.
The accountants' body has initiated a review of itself that critics hope will lead to the resignation of Mr Malley, who wrote a career-guidance book called The Naked CEO.
The complaint, made under CPA's personal complaint and grievance procedure, came from one of Mr Malley's direct reports. He told the investigator he had defended one of his female staff who had come into conflict with Mr Malley during preparations for the CPA's 125th celebration, where astronaut Neil Armstrong was a keynote speaker.
The ABC previously reported on the existence of bullying claims against Mr Malley, citing Tony Gleeson, a former executive general manager at CPA. The ABC didn't report the details of the claims.
Upset and crying
A few weeks before the celebration, the female staff member approached him upset and crying, the executive said, and said Mr Malley "had been disrespectful towards her and had demeaned her performance". She said Mr Malley had previously called her "brainless", according to the executive's complaint.
The executive, who regarded the manager as a strong performer, said Mr Malley called him and said she was "paid a premium salary but was on L-plates" and "we should let her go".
The exact cause of the tension between the manager and Mr Malley is unclear. She made a separate bullying complaint against Mr Malley and later left the organisation.
According to the executive, Mr Malley told him he felt sick in her presence, and asked the executive if he had the details of her complaint.
"[The executive] said that he did but this was confidential and was part of [the] procedure that needed to be followed," according to a record of his bullying complaint. "Mr Malley became more upset at this. [The executive] said that at this stage of the discussion he felt bullied and was being attacked verbally."
Ignored
About a week later, as preparations for Neil Armstrong's speech intensified, the woman told the executive she was having trouble communicating with Mr Malley.
"I have had enough," she allegedly told him. "He is almost completely ignoring me. Alex gets excited [and] sometimes uses language inappropriate to the siutation."
Another week later and the executive said he confronted Mr Malley at a scheduled meeting.
"I want to talk about your behaviour towards me; your language; your demeaning of staff; and your aggression in conversations," he said he told Mr Malley.
"I will listen and I will see what I can do about it," Mr Malley allegedly replied.
Joint meeting
Then Mr Malley allegedly raised the female manager's complaint.
"I now have notes about this," he allegedly said. "You don't have my back. I think you're trying to bring me down. I am going to get everyone in a meeting and ask them about this whole situation."
Later, Mr Malley called a meeting with the executive and the manager, according to the complaint, where he criticised her work performance and asked the executive to agree that he had never said anything "untoward" about her. The executive didn't agree with Mr Malley and later said he felt he was being coerced to lie.
After this meeting the executive said he was frozen out by Mr Malley and felt he had no future at CPA Australia. It took 12 weeks for his complaint to be investigated. He was found to have acted unprofessionally and made redundant.