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Questions remain about whether the Government was aware that its former HR boss was under investigation by a UK employment tribunal for making "inaccurate" statements about an employee's health and then doctoring her dismissal letter prior to his employment in the island.
It recently emerged that the Government of Jersey's former Chief People and Transformation Officer Mark Grimley had been embroiled in the six-year legal battle between the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham council and former employee Rachael Wright-Turner.
The council was ordered to pay a record £4.6 million for disability discrimination and harassment towards Ms Wright-Turner – who suffered PTSD after working with the bereaved families of the Grenfell Tower fire.
Ms Wright-Turner was sacked from her £125,000-a-year role in 2018, when Mr Grimley was HR Director at the council.
The employment tribunal's ruling described Mr Grimley as "an unreliable witness" who "gave evidence under oath which [he] knew to be untrue".
Mr Grimley continued to work for the London borough until June 2019, when he moved to Jersey – hired as Group Director of People and Corporate Services under former Government CEO Charlie Parker.
Yesterday morning, Express asked the Government to confirm whether they were aware of the employment tribunal case involving Mr Grimley ahead of his employment in 2019, or if it emerged later during his time in post. No response has been received at the time of writing.
Mr Grimley's title changed to Chief People and Transformation Officer during the creation of the Government's ‘Cabinet Office’, but his role remained essentially the same.
A key element of that was overseeing the transformation of the culture of the service in the wake of reports of widespread bullying and harassment throughout the civil service, as well as low morale.
In an interview with a UK trade publication in 2022, Mr Grimley was described as being invested in working to build trust in Government as an employer "for the next two to four years at least".
However, Mr Grimley resigned from his role at the Government of Jersey for what were described by Government as "personal reasons" in November last year.
At the time, the Government refused to answer questions about the circumstances surrounding his abrupt departure, and whether he had received an exit payment.
Express asked the Government to confirm:
The Government said that they wouldn't comment on individual employment matters.
They instead provided the following statement, signed off by then-Vice-Chair of the States Employment Board, Andy Jehan, who expressed the board's "gratitude" for Mr Grimley's "support, advice and guidance" and said they "wish him well in his future endeavours".
Following Mr Grimley's departure, the Government came under heavy fire in January of this year when it emerged that more than £11,000 of public money had been spent on an awards ceremony for HR staff in London in November.
The decision to authorise what was blasted by politicians and commentators as a "jolly" had been taken by Mr Grimley before he left the public service.
The total cost of the awards initiative was £11,429.58, comprising entry fees (£810), time spent preparing entries (£1,203), flight and train tickets (£1,247), travel time (£1,947), accommodation (£2,223) and the cost of a table for 10 at the awards (£4,000).
The Government of Jersey won the 'Top HR Team of the Year' award, which was subsequently featured by Personnel Today on its website. No Government press release was shared about the win.
The HR Team of the Year is next. A huge thank you to our headline sponsor @PeopleScoutUK for sponsoring this category. And the trophy goes to…@GovJersey! ????
— Personnel Today (@personneltoday) November 21, 2023
Congratulations to them! ????#PTAwards pic.twitter.com/mel53teOLw
Following Mr Grimley's abrupt departure, Lesley Darwin, Associate Director, Employment Experience, Reward and Relations, became Acting Chief People and Transformation Officer with responsibility for the SEB.
It was confirmed that she would be supported will be supported by Sarah Goodwin, Associate Director and Head of Organisational Development, who became Interim Deputy Chief People and Transformation Officer.
Mr Grimley's permanent successor is yet to be confirmed.
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