‘Can You Do Your Best For Me?’ Former RSA Irish CEO Asked Chairman

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Philip Smith, the former head of RSA’s Irish unit, asked for support from the division’s chairman as directors sketched out the shape of a probe into accounting matters, an employment hearing heard.

Smith asked the Irish unit chairman, Leo Blennerhassett, to “do your best for me” as the company began investigating how the company set aside money for large claims in October 2013, Blennerhassett told an Employment Appeals Tribunal hearing on Friday in Dublin.

Blennerhassett’s evidence came in the fifth day of Smith’s constructive dismissal case against RSA. Smith left the company in November 2013 as it investigated accounting at the Irish unit. Blennerhassett received the request from Smith in a call to his cell phone in October of that year, days after the reserving issues first emerged.

Blennerhassett said he was in the RSA building at the time, so thought Smith’s approach “strange.” Blennerhasset said he agreed to Smith’s request, as he thought the chief executive had done nothing wrong at that point.

Blennerhassett said he was surprised by comments on Smith’s strident management style from subordinates in a draft report later submitted to the Irish central bank, as had seen no evidence of Smith intimidating staff. Still, he said he had no reason to doubt the contents of the report, which was sent to regulators before Smith was consulted on it.

Smith told the tribunal earlier this week that the internal company report which effectively accused him of bullying amounted to “character assassination” and didn’t match reality. Smith has told the tribunal he wasn’t involved in the fixing of reserves for large claims.

Evidence from witnesses has now concluded, with closing submissions to follow.

RSA is still awaiting the results of an Irish regulatory probe following the episode and a 200 million-pound ($294 million) capital injection in Ireland which also cost former Group CEO Simon Lee his job.

The Irish unit cost RSA another 100 million pounds in 2014, taking its total bill since the accounting irregularities were first reported to about 300 million pounds.