This huge payout was made to a senior manager of a listed Australian software company. The manager started with the company in 2006 when it was small and over the next 10 years he worked hard - at a cost to his personal life - to build up the company. In the final year (2016) he made seven different complaints of bullying in relation to the actions of other executives. Shortly afterwards he was dismissed. After a Federal Court hearing he was awarded $5.2 million made up of penalties, damages, breach of contract and loss of future earnings. The CEO who fired him was ordered to personally pay $7000.
So what's the learning from this? First - bullying is toxic and infects all aspects of the organisation if left unaddressed. Second - leaders need someone who can talk them through their decision making process to ensure there are legitimate and reasonable decisions. Third - what is the opportunity cost of these actions and would it not have been better that all that energy went into building the business?
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