His former employer told the Herald it was \u201cappalled and deeply concerned\u201d when it learned of the charge. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time the charge came to our attention we had an active disciplinary investigation in progress involving this employee, relating to a separate matter,\u201d a company spokesperson said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we learned of the charge we immediately terminated the individual\u2019s employment. <\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the suppression order in place we are not in a position to discuss specific details.\u201d <\/p>\n
According to court documents, the executive presented himself as a \u201csugar daddy\u201d and bought a 14-year-old girl Uber Eats and a $200 gift card in exchange for intimate images and videos (including some in a school uniform) before paying her $1000 cash for sexual services in September. <\/p>\n
The girl had told the man she was 17 and, according to the court\u2019s summary of facts, he said to her \u201cYou\u2019re 17, I can\u2019t pay you for sex so, if anyone finds out, we wanted to have sex, and I just gave you money.\u201d <\/p>\n
Months before the man\u2019s guilty plea, he hosted a mid-winter Christmas party at his Auckland home. Invites for the June event were sent to staff on work emails. <\/p>\n
One of the partygoers, Chloe*, said she became concerned when a female colleague wasn\u2019t at work in the days after they attended the party together. <\/p>\n
It later emerged Chloe\u2019s colleague resigned from the company and would be on leave during her notice period. The colleague declined to comment to the Herald. <\/p>\n
Chloe said she was confused why her friend suddenly left and arranged to meet her for a drink. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t good and she didn\u2019t want to talk about it but told me something had happened at the party and that\u2019s why she left,\u201d Chloe said. <\/p>\n
The company didn\u2019t answer questions about the party, the woman\u2019s resignation or whether they were related to the separate disciplinary investigation into the former executive. <\/p>\n
Multiple staff members claimed they had previously expressed concerns about some of the former executive\u2019s behaviour. They spoke on the condition of anonymity. <\/p>\n
Two senior staff members said they approached HR about what they felt were vulgar sexual remarks they alleged he made at work. <\/p>\n
One of them, Julia*, who no longer works for the business, told the Herald she wrote to the company chair last month and asked for an independent investigation into workplace conduct. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe language used by [the executive] in front of his colleagues and employees was inappropriate and unprofessional,\u201d Julia said in the anonymous letter. <\/p>\n
The letter claimed the executive\u2019s remarks contributed to \u201can environment that felt demeaning and unsafe\u201d and that his recent exit from the business was \u201ca relief\u201d. <\/p>\n
The company chair declined to comment at this time. <\/p>\n
A former staff member of the executive, Polly*, claimed he had a \u201csoft spot\u201d for her, which she felt was obsessive and weird. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn meetings he used overt sexualised language and swear words … appalling behaviour had been going on for a long time. It wasn\u2019t normal but became accepted. He would make comments like, \u2018I\u2019m off to HR again \u2014 wonder what they\u2019ll try and do to me?\u2019 It became a running joke. He mocked the process,\u201d claimed Polly, who is decades the executive\u2019s junior. <\/p>\n
She said that in an open-plan office he had shared a story about a dress-up party at his house where he described a 15-year-old in a \u201cslutty\u201d costume. He also told a joke about a teenage boy\u2019s erection, she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe the word \u2018slutty\u2019 and 15-year-old belong in the same sentence,\u201d she told the Herald. <\/p>\n
Polly felt over time her boss became \u201coverfamiliar\u201d and she resigned. At her farewell drinks, she claimed he told staff he would date her if he was younger.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always felt that if I\u2019d said anything against him at work, it would come back to hurt me.\u201d <\/p>\n
Julia, the woman who wrote to the board this month, claimed she spoke to HR about what she described as \u201clewd comments\u201d in the first few weeks of the man\u2019s employment. <\/p>\n
The man pleaded guilty in the Auckland District Court last month. Photo \/ Nick Reed<\/p>\n
She said she felt uncomfortable when she met her new superior at a team morning tea.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe [executive] talked about [a rival firm] \u2018raping the industry\u2019 and told the sales team they should be ashamed of themselves \u2018for being caught with their knickers down, bending over and taking it\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe CEO was there … and he said nothing. I thought, \u2018I am too old for this shit … I can\u2019t condone this conduct and turn a blind eye to it,\u201d Julia said. <\/p>\n
The CEO of the company declined to comment. <\/p>\n
Another staff member said he was so concerned about remarks female colleagues told him the executive had made he verbally complained to HR. He described what was relayed to him as \u201cdisgraceful\u201d but said he was not informed what action, if any, resulted from his complaint. <\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the company said it was \u201ccommitted to maintaining a safe workplace for all employees and we have robust processes in place to ensure that any complaint is thoroughly and comprehensively investigated\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe regularly communicate with staff about how they can report inappropriate behaviour in the workplace and we have options to do so internally through our HR team or through an external, anonymous reporting line.\u201d <\/p>\n
According to Julia and two others, the former executive compared the economy to the genitalia of a nun at a senior leadership meeting about cost-cutting. Julia said she complained to HR. <\/p>\n
About a week later, the former executive apologised to the leaders in his business unit, three staff members told the Herald. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe said HR had informed the CEO about his behaviour and that he\u2019d received a dressing-down. He told us that if we had any issues with him, we should go to him directly \u2014 not to HR. After that, I lost faith in HR and became fearful of losing my job if I raised concerns,\u201d one of them said. <\/p>\n
Julia said another colleague confided in her that when she was heavily pregnant, the executive asked her, \u201cDo you get horny when you\u2019re pregnant?\u201d <\/p>\n
That woman corroborated Julia\u2019s account but didn\u2019t want to elaborate further. <\/p>\n
Julia said she had warned younger staff members about the man to \u2018be careful\u201d and \u201cnot to be alone\u201d with the executive. <\/p>\n
Another former colleague at the business described the executive\u2019s manner as \u201csleazy\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t hit on me \u2014 I wasn\u2019t a young, blonde pretty thing \u2014 and that suited me fine. [He] makes my skin crawl. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat upsets me is seeing a man in power [speak about] women in such a degrading way\u201d. <\/p>\n
Another ex-employee at the business said the man would fuss over his \u201cadmin girls\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe bought them cocktails but not for us \u2018old girls.\u2019 At client functions he [bought] the young girls alcohol and often partied with them until the early hours of the morning.\u201d <\/p>\n
She alleged she observed the man making sexualised comments to female staff about needing to \u201cbend over and take a spanking\u201d by rival firms. <\/p>\n
He said HR had informed the CEO about his behaviour and that he\u2019d received a dressing-down. He told us that if we had any issues with him, we should go to him directly \u2014 not to HR. <\/p>\n
She believed because the former executive\u2019s business unit was seen as important to the company, it may have turned a blind eye. <\/p>\n
But Chloe, who was among those attending the June party, defended her former boss as a \u201cfather figure and mentor to her\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was very protective of me, but not in a weird way.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI know he was talking to women on a dating app. He was lonely and struggling,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
On one occasion, she said the executive had encouraged her to make a formal complaint after she was groped at a function. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was disappointed in me for not reporting it,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Julia believed the company\u2019s CEO must have been aware of the executive\u2019s use of language from the very beginning, given that he was at the man\u2019s morning tea after he joined the business. <\/p>\n
She questioned the CEO\u2019s \u201cmoral leadership\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat background checks were done?\u201d she asked about the hiring of the former executive. <\/p>\n
She believed \u201cheads need to roll\u201d. <\/p>\n
One senior staff member, who has since left the business, said he spoke to the CEO when the executive was appointed to say he didn\u2019t believe the man was the right fit for the role because of his credentials and experience. <\/p>\n
Another claimed he told the CEO he didn\u2019t believe the man was an appropriate choice because of his reputation. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe signs were clear \u2014 he wasn\u2019t suitable. There were questions about his character, his leadership, and competence.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the failure of the business: not seeing it. If it was obvious to the people under him that there were issues, I find it very difficult to believe these issues were not apparent to the people above him,\u201d the staff member said. <\/p>\n
* Sources\u2019 names have been changed to protect their anonymity. <\/p>\n