A female ex-Web Summit employee got a “very substantial” settlement over bullying claims against the company CEO, Paddy Cosgrave, according to a former director, Daire Hickey.
Gatekeepers News reports Hickey, a fellow co-founder of the tech conference, alleged in High Court proceedings, that Cosgrave routinely chastised and demeaned staff, particularly women.
Hickey’s claims are made in a lawsuit in which his company Lazvisax Ltd is suing Web Summit holding company Manders Terrace Ltd, Cosgrave’s firm Pro Roto Ltd and Cosgrave personally for alleged shareholder oppression.
He also alleged that the Web Summit CEO hacked the email of a rival tech event, used corporate funds without proper authorisation, and availed of company resources to engage in “vendettas” against business and political figures, including Denis O’Brien and Leo Varadkar.
Hickey’s claims were described as “baseless” by a Web Summit spokesperson.
Hickey and Cosgrave met when they were both studying at Trinity College and along with David Kelly, a schoolmate of Cosgrave’s at Glenstal Abbey. They founded the Web Summit in 2010.
In an affidavit grounding an application for entry to the commercial list, Hickey alleged a former employee made a formal written complaint of bullying and harassment against Cosgrave.
“I understand that her complaint against Mr Cosgrave was settled on a confidential basis for a very substantial sum of money,” he said.
In another legal filing, Hickey said: “Mr Cosgrave would routinely chastise and demean staff, in particular female staff, publicly and reduce them to tears or place them under an inordinate amount of stress which would leave me having to step in and manage the situation.
“One of his favourite strategies was to ‘gaslight’ employees who challenged or displeased him in any way by questioning their contribution to the company and suggesting that they should leave the company if they could not contribute more.
“It was also not uncommon for Mr Cosgrave to fire employees on a whim.”
In the affidavit, he described Cosgrave as “a highly egocentric, manipulative, volatile and vindictive individual” who when questioned about his conduct “typically reacts with extraordinary vitriol”.
“He will stop at nothing to exact revenge on those who he believes have been disloyal, or who have slighted him in some real or imagined way,” said Hickey.
“By acting in this manner, he has been unnecessarily destructive of company business and employee relationships at a whim.
“He has an explosive temper, which he frequently exercises against employees. His conduct has been – and continues to be – extremely damaging to the company’s business and reputation.”
At the High Court on Monday, Bernard Dunleavy SC, legal counsel for Manders Terrace Ltd, Pro Roto Ltd and Cosgrave, objected to the entry of the matter onto the commercial list on grounds of culpable delay.
He said some of the allegations made by Hickey were a decade old. Although a number of matters complained of were more recent. Dunleavy questioned why they had not prompted proceedings before now.
“The allegations are very serious. They are categorically denied,” said Dunleavy.
Kelley Smith SC, for Lazvisax Ltd, rejected the allegations of delay, saying her client only became aware of certain matters recently.
Justice Denis McDonald agreed to enter the case onto the commercial list.
The judge said that while he was “unimpressed” historic allegations were being made, there were also allegations of oppressive conduct which it was alleged only recently came to Hickey’s attention.
The case is now expected to go along with two other lawsuits filed in recent weeks.
In the first of the cases, Manders Terrace Ltd is suing Kelly over what Cosgrave alleges was the secret setting up of an investment fund to profit from the company’s success.
While in the second lawsuit, Kelly’s company Graiguearidda Ltd is suing Manders Terrace and Cosgrave over alleged shareholder oppression.
