Evershed lawsuit against Duffield gets go-ahead
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Former New Star fund manager Patrick Evershed has been given approval to bring a whistleblowing claim against the firm’s owner John Duffield, a London court heard yesterday.
Evershed will seek millions of pounds after the Court of Appeal granted his tribunal hearing, with Evershed claiming that Duffield bullied him.
Evershed was one of New Star best known managers. He joined the firm in 2002 and managed the special opportunties fund. The fund was one of the leading performers in the market, however Evershed says Duffield put pressure on him to push the fund through its £50m ceiling, a decision which Evershed said, placed him “under impossible pressures that led to underperformance of the fund.”
Evershed’s relationship broke down with Duffield so badly in 2008 that he sent a letter to human resources regarding his behaviour. “He has been vile to most of the fund managers for several years and bullying us,” Evershed wrote according to group documents. “He has created a most unpleasant atmosphere throughout the firm.”
Evershed accused Duffield of recruiting “stars” and then destroying their confidence. He said that New Star’s board was aware of this but were “too frightened of him to deal with the situation”.
He claims that he was suspended affter sending a letter to the board, and that chief executive Howard Covington told him he was “clearly emotionally disturbed and unfit to manage money”.
Unfair dismissal carries a maximum award of £66,000. Eversheds lawyers later asked for this to be amended to a whistleblower claim, which an employment tribunal refused. Yesterday’s ruling will see the case return to the original tribunal.
Henderson Global Investors, who bought New Star Asset Management for £115m in 2009, challenges the allegations and it is to defend the claim at the employment tribunal.
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