‘Dictator’ director kept bust of ‘monster’ Stalin on desk
A company director kept a bust of Stalin on his desk and acted like a “dictator” before he was sacked, a court heard.
Darren Cavanaugh, 57, was formerly a director of a steel engineering business where he had built a successful career since the 1980s.
He was sacked in November 2018 after a colleague’s complaint about his behaviour and is now suing, claiming he suffered a breakdown due to stress triggered by the handling of his case before his ousting.
His former bosses claim he was a “dysfunctional” character who acted more as “a dictator, not a director” and even kept a 2in bust of “Man of Steel” Josef Stalin on his desk.
“The fact that Mr Cavanaugh felt able to associate himself with a character as authoritarian and ruthless as Stalin says a lot about his true personality,” David Platt KC, the company’s barrister, told the High Court.
Mr Cavanaugh joined Bolton-based Folsana in 1987, aged 21, and was considered a “hard-working and capable” worker within the company, the court heard.
But he said he was shocked and humiliated by his suspension in late 2018 and by a demeaning email sent to the company’s suppliers warning that any of his requests would not be honoured.
‘Bullying and demeaning style’
He told Judge Gavin Mansfield KC that the news was a bombshell, which came “out of the blue” and left him scrambling to clear his belongings from his office desk.
The suspension followed the resignation of another boss in September 2018, who cited Mr Cavanaugh’s “bullying and demeaning management style”, the court was told.
But Jeremy Hyam, Mr Cavanaugh’s KC, said he was left in the dark about the disciplinary case against him and “suspended for some 43 days before being given specifics of the disciplinary complaint against him”.
Mr Cavanaugh suggests his suspension was based on “manufactured flimsy evidence” and that senior colleagues “conspired” to oust him in order to avoid handing over a costly severance package, as he had been considering leaving to set up his own laser cutting business.
He now blames his psychiatric problems on his employers’ failure to take heed of a series of reports he made about his fragile mental health during the disciplinary process.
He said he had complained of “stress, anxiety and depression” and told a grievance officer: “I am really not in a good place at the moment physically and emotionally.”
Before his suspension, he had been a resilient and high-achieving boss, but although still able to hold down challenging roles, “he is currently not capable of working in a high-pressure highly-skilled role similar to his old job,” said his KC.
However, Folsana insists that the claim is groundless and that the “suspension and disciplinary process was bona fides and properly conducted” against a boss who “thrived on conflict” and “domination”.
“It’s perhaps indicative of these personality traits that the witnesses describe that the claimant proudly kept a bust of one of the great monsters of the 20th century, Josef Stalin, on his desk,” Mr Platt, for the company, said.
‘No idea’ why he was given bust
Quizzed about why he had a Stalin figurine on his desk, Mr Cavanaugh explained that his son brought it back for him following a trip to Russia, also giving him a Faberge-style ornamental egg.
These two items ended up on his desk alongside a toy sheep, said Mr Cavanaugh, adding that he had “absolutely no idea” why his son had given him the Stalin bust.
“You brought it into the office and put it on the desk so that everyone could see it,” said Mr Platt.
“I suggest that you were trying to project a message that you were a big tough guy?”
“That’s incorrect,” replied Mr Cavanaugh, explaining that since he had never been a history buff he had little knowledge of who Stalin was. “All I was aware of was that he was a Russian leader.”
‘Thrived on conflict’
And asked why a colleague had described him as “a dictator, not a director”, Mr Cavanaugh replied: “I don’t recognise why he said that”.
Mr Platt said Robert Haslam, the company’s former owner, claimed Mr Cavanaugh tried to take ownership of “absolutely everything” and “thrived on conflict, which provided him with an opportunity to show his domination”.
He “could only function as the dominant party in any relationship”, insisted on “getting his own way” and was “absolutely convinced of his own opinions to the point of delusion”.
The former colleague whose resignation sparked the disciplinary process had been left “virtually in tears” by Mr Cavanaugh, he told the judge. The case continues.
