Former Charity Business chief executive Mark Freeman has won his claim for unfair dismissal against the parent company, and been awarded nearly £86,000 for lost earnings and compensation.

However, he is unlikely to recover any of the money from CBusiness Holdings Ltd as it is now in voluntary liquidation. Documents filed at Companies House by the liquidator show that there is no value attached to any of the assets on the balance sheet and its net debts, even before the tribunal judgment, totalled £597,332.

The judgment from Bristol Employment Tribunal, dated 9 March, orders CBusiness Holdings to pay Freeman £67,000 notice pay in lieu of 12 months notice; £6,034 in respect of unpaid holiday pay, and a total of £12,695 comprising a basic compensation award, lost pension, and expenses.

Freeman attended the tribunal hearing; no representative from CBusiness Holdings turned up.

Freeman sacked after investigation ordered by the board

Freeman was dismissed by the company at the end of October 2011 after members of the board commissioned an independent investigation into alleged financial irregularities at the subsidiary operating company, Charity Business, where he was chief executive.  

The board at the time comprised chairman Bruce Keith, Steve Round, Freeman, and Freeman’s wife Val Austin.

The investigator’s report contained evidence of missed VAT payments, early raising of invoices apparently to beat the VAT rise, and a failure to keep all client monies separate from company funds.
 
However, the report also emphasised that in general, client money was paid out on a timely basis as agreed, that there was no actual loss to clients, and there was “no evidence of systematic misuse of client funds”.

In Freeman’s unfair dismissal claim, seen by civilsociety.co.uk, he said the allegations made against him by two senior managers were never proved in the subsequent investigation; that the reason for the dismissal was unclear and that no proper dismissal process was followed.

Freeman: 'This proves I was unfairly dismissed'

In the wake of the judgment, Freeman said: “This judgment reflects the fact that I was unfairly dismissed though I was surprised that the business did not defend it when they had insurance to cover such matters.

“I can only conclude from this that they were aware that their actions of dismissing me were unsupportable. I understand that the decision to dismiss was voted on and it was not a unanimous decision.”

Calls to Bruce Keith and Steve Round, who were the two remaining board members at CBusiness Holdings in January when Freeman lodged his tribunal claim, were not returned this morning.