Questions For Nominet About Russell Haworth’s £300,000 Payout and the Secret Side Letter the Nominet Directors Signed 2 Days Before he Resigned
Two days before Russell Haworth resigned with a payout of around £300,000, Nominet gave up the right to remove him without pay if he was removed at the EGM.
I can’t see how the directors were acting in the company’s best interests giving up such a powerful right just before it could have protected Nominet in any settlement negotiations with Haworth.
I mentioned at this week’s hustings that I had raised this with Andy Green. I wrote to him and asked that he starts an independent investigation into why this was done. He has not replied. The members urgently deserve an explanation for this behaviour.
If I am elected to the board, I will start the investigation myself. Voting closes on Monday. Please vote for me and I will have this looked into without delay.
Attached are my letter to the Chair, a copy of Haworth’s contract and a copy of the secret side letter signed by Rob Binns and Stephen Page on behalf of the board.
The board urgently needs to explain why it gave up the right to remove Russell Haworth at no cost and two days later paid him around £300,000. It looks to me like a total breach of their duty to Nominet. If that’s the case, they should all resign or be removed from office.