7th Jul 2016 11:49
LONDON (Alliance News) - Wey Education PLC on Thursday said it has been awarded damages of GBP38,046 after the UK's High Court ruled in its favour regarding its action against former Chief Executive Zenna Atkins.
The online fee paying secondary school operator said the High Court found that its Atkins, now known as Zenna Hopkins, "breached certain of her fiduciary duties to the company on various matters, breached her duty loyalty to the company, acted in her own interests at the company's expense, improperly disclosed financial and confidential information about the company to third parties and embellished facts to advance her own position".
The High Court also ruled Atkins "improperly encouraged various consultants to cease working with the company, deleted her inbox 'to avoid disclosure of her own misconduct', not, as she maintained, acted out of a sense of public spirit or duty, and improperly accepted a directorship of a company client without disclosure or approval".
Significantly, the judge found that in relation to an allegation of fraud Atkins made to the state body Department for Education against the company and its officers, "she had no proper basis for any such allegation and she was acting to pursue her own agenda," Wey Education said. As such, the company said it has been awarded damages of GBP38,046.
"The board of the company regrets that these proceedings were necessary, but faced with the conduct of Atkins, in particular in relation to the wrongful and harmful allegation of fraud made to the Department of Education, felt that in the interests of all shareholders, they had to act," Wey Education said in a statement.
The company also said it intends to apply to have the currently stayed employment tribunal action dismissed, and said it "hopes that this matter will now be swiftly concluded".
Shares in Wey Education were untraded on Thursday, having last traded at 4.03 pence.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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