Poppycock and utter rubbish, says Parisot-Potter

FORMER Massy Holdings general counsel Angelique Parisot-Potter yesterday described the £11.8 million ($99.6m) severance claim she is said to have made as 'utter rubbish and a misleading extrapolation of issues'.

'It should be made clear that an exit package was raised by Mr (Gervase) Warner after I raised concerns in an executive meeting of September 6, 2023, followed by the written memo on issues I had repeatedly raised prior,' Parisot-Potter said in a WhatsApp message to the Sunday Express.

'Following that submission, I was asked to step aside and rescind my position to Ms Wendy Kerry (the then Corporate Secretary) who was junior and less experienced than persons in my team and who were part of an approved succession plan,' she said.

When Parisot-Potter resigned on December 28, Kerry was appointed as Massy's acting general counsel on January 8.

'I was approached multiple times by Mr Warner telling me to step aside-while yet staying onto accommodate Ms Kerry. This had absolutely nothing to do with restructuring. It was, in my experience and studied opinion, about suppressing legitimate challenges to governance, ethics, and transparency,' she said.

'I was even visited at home by the Head of Human Resources, pleading with me to accommodate the request that could not be reasonably executed under proper HR or IR practice,' Parisot-Potter said.

Parisot-Potter said that Warner at various times prompted her to suggest conditions under which she would 'feel comfortable' leaving, which she described as a 'classic set up for a forced exit'.

'He later suggested $24 million and then $3 million. I did not respond as my discussions were centered on the irregularities I was assigned to identify and rectify as explicit in my role,' she said.

Excellent performance appraisals

Parisot-Potter said her performance appraisals up to the day of leaving were excellent, and she did not enter into voluntary negotiations on severance.

'There was a mediation attempt at which Mr Warner made two offers and on each and every occasion the offers came from Massy through Mr Warner. I would ask for evidence of any requests I supposedly made or the alleged £11 million offer made to me. I have the offers that were made to me,' she said.

'Any reference to £11.8 million would have been my directing Mr Warner to the executive value he had provided Mr David O'Brien and which had created a benchmark for himself, Mr O'Brien and all other executives. I had no plans to leave the organisation. Instead, I ignored the letters and offers to engage me in an exit discussion as these only commenced upon my raising the concerns and doing my job,' she said.

O'Brien,Massy'sexecutivevicepresident of global expansion, announced his intention to resign on March 8. His resignation will take effect on June 8.

Parisot-Potter said she was determined to save herself and family the pain and resign with nothing.

'That is hardly the action of someone holding out for £11.8 million. My formal response to that allegation is-utter poppycock! My allegations were focused on: poor governance; conflicts of interest; illicit transactions; discrimination, harassment, bullying; undue pressure on the General Counsel; payment of dividends in USD to some shareholders; invasion of my privacy,' she said.

Parisot-Potter also questioned why the investigators have not disputed her claims regarding healing white light energy and talking to the dead.

FORMER GENERAL COUNSEL: Angelique Parisot-Potter