As you may be aware,it was reported in the media that I was sacked as a Director and CEO from Little Wings by the Board and a number of allegations were made in regards to the reasons for this. For those who are not familiar with the story here it is:-
http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/story/3121466/wings-ceo-dumped-mum-claims-charity-hero-harassed-her/
Unfortunately, some untrue allegations and lies were reported by Trudy Fittler (a mother Little Wings used to help) and the Little Wings Board. Until now, I have not been given the opportunity to speak out, fight these allegations and tell my side of the story, but wanted to take this opportunity to set the record straight with the many people that may have been left wondering.
The actions of the Little Wings Board over the last month are in my view, and widely held by others who know the full story, are nothing short of disgusting and without integrity. The Board have given me no other choice but to let a wider group know about my side of the story.
Due to the inability of the Little Wings Board and the newly appointed Managing Director (MD) Richelle Koller (nee Richelle McLean and uses both names) to be able to effectively run the charity, I gave the Board 7 days to resign by Friday 24th July, 2015, and they have decided against stepping down. Little Wings deserves a Board that has integrity and values, and the current Board has shown they do not possess these qualities.
Since 2011 I have committed every resource and hour available to build Little Wings. For 2 years, I worked without wages for up to 140 hours a week, working 7 days, and I have conservatively invested over $500k. Over this time a great team was built, and I thought a good Board was appointed. As it turns out the Board failed at the first crises and failed to support the founder, CEO and chairman which was nothing short of spineless. Further to this having put my life and savings on the line to build Little Wings, I now face bankruptcy. Whilst members of the Little Wings Board Adrian Nisbet and Richelle Koller have enjoyed the benefits of my commitment to build the service, and continue to use funding that was loaned from my business and use of the planes purchased from my hard work, I have been left with no safety net and have lost the most important contribution in my life – Little Wings. The way the Little Wings Board have handled the accusations and lies of Trudy Fittler is unforgivable.
I had a meeting with the Little Wings Board on June 1st and it was agreed that I would resign as CEO and Director to take the heat out of the media story which was due to break the next day. My resignation was accepted. At this meeting Adrian made it clear that I “had to be thrown under the bus” to retain the support of ClubsNSW and the demands of CEO Anthony Ball following the Board meeting with him. (Note: My reference to ClubsNSW is in relation to the executive body, and is in no way a reflection on the 1400 registered clubs across NSW which do an outstanding job for the community, and are to be commended for their outstanding work). It was agreed that no media comment would be made, and I agreed to lay low for a week for the dust to settle and not communicate with staff or the media. Whist I met with my obligations, the Board categorically failed and never in my life have I witnessed such deplorable actions that are void of any integrity. Whilst I was silenced by the Little Wings Board from the media, the Little Wings Board took the opportunity to destroy me in the media and chose to only comment on one side of the story. They chose Trudy Fittler despite being aware of emails and evidence that I have produced, whilst Trudy Fittler has produced nothing.
My phone was taken from me that night by the Board and since that time, I have had no messages or phone calls passed on, so my apologies if you have tried to contact me as many did. Media has contacted my phone and I have not been given the opportunity to respond to any media stories as the Board has ensured that I have been silenced and not contactable for comment.
It was not until the following day that I read in the paper I was “sacked”. Quote from Adrian that “the decision was taken promptly once the Board became fully aware of the circumstances relating to the allegations”. This has done nothing but validate the lies of Trudy Fittler, and the statement is entirely misleading. If the Board was “fully aware” then why didn’t they make a correct statement in the media? It was simply easier to comply with the demands of ClubsNSW rather than support the founder and CEO.
The actions of Adrian Nisbet and Richelle Koller have exceeded the worst treatment of anyone that I have ever witnessed. Made significantly worse by being played out in a public forum, and they have destroyed my name and reputation for their own gain.
Since the media article broke, I launched an unfair dismissal claim through the Fair Work Commission and during that process, the Little Wings Board continued to attempt to crucify me with further lies. Unfortunately, I have had to drop that claim unless I have the funds behind me to fight this further, which I don’t. Little Wings has access to Pro Bono lawyers which I secured in 2014 and who are now being used against me.
I received a termination letter dated June 17th from Adrian Nisbet which in itself is an insult. After 4 years of hard slog, up to 140 hours a week, there isn’t a single mention of gratitude for what has been achieved and I have been discarded like a piece of garbage that has served its purpose and no longer of any use. Adrian has reaped the benefits with a car for his own and his wife’s personal use, two aircraft at his disposal, and self-appoints himself as the Chairman. After slapping me on the back on the night of June 1st as I was dispatched in a taxi, his words of “I will call you in a week when the dust settles” meant nothing. Clearly he had another agenda, has never called me, and didn’t have the integrity or guts to do it face to face. The aircraft which he previously owned under Automation Group and was purchased by Little Wings is now under his management and is used for both his business and personal use.
The appointment of Richelle Koller to Managing Director is insulting. Richelle hasn’t the business experience, education, people skills or business acumen to be a MD and under no other circumstances would remotely be considered for this position. She has shown she is unable to communicate effectively with staff and stakeholders. Richelle is self-serving and has none of the qualities that support her appointment to the MD role. While I was CEO, Richelle was the financial controller for Little Wings and insisted that her work had to be carried out in over 2.5 days per week. A restructure was required as staff that were reporting to her could not perform their roles adequately due to her poor management and lack of people skills. As a member of the Board, she has managed to be instrumental in terminating my position, has self-appointed herself as MD with what I can assume is an increase in her wage, claimed a Hyundai sponsored car for her own use (over the last 12 months she pursued a company vehicle for herself which would only be used for personal use), has employed herself full time and managed to employee her friend into her previous financial position (that is now only required for 1-2 days a week) and her husband is in control of the Little Wings IT. Due to her lack of skills to run the charity, there are other appointments that have been required that will add administrative costs to the charity, and in turn, take funding away from flights.
Richelle is on the Board and the MD role reports to the Board. This is a total conflict of interests and Adrian himself was vocal about this from the onset but has clearly once again folded. The Board must be independent of employed staff and Richelle is effectively reporting to herself and determining her conditions of employment as well as conditions of her family and friends employment.
Richelle also continues to run her business “Crunch Accounting” so she is not only working full time as MD but runs her business on the side. Maybe this is why she needs an assistant. There can be no justification for a full time MD that is not actively involved across the business and Richelle cannot perform any of the duties demanded of this position. In my role as CEO I was across what was needed and I know with absolute certainty this appointment is absurd.
Richelle in fact cannot do what is needed and this is a significant waste of money raised going towards her wage that should be going to flight services. I have no doubt she is now on a $100k package if not more which will drive up admin costs and totally undermine the goal to reduce admin costs, meaning less flights. Richelle is not the glue to hold a team together, she is the solvent that destroys a team and totally inappropriate for the role. Nobody has any trust in her and the appointment is a disgrace.
As a member of the Board, Adrian has been instrumental in appointing Richelle to the MD position although from the start questioned “why” I have Richelle on the Board because she clearly didn’t have the business experience or skills. She was simply being tolerated and her original appointment was because I had to fill a slot at short notice due to the resignation of a previous Director due to a family illness. Adrian himself commented that having an accountant in charge of a growing business is the quickest way to destroy it, and now he has put her into this role. Why?? Because once again ClubsNSW demanded someone be immediately appointed so is ClubsNSW now running Little Wings?? At the very least, they are dictating terms.
I wanted to take this opportunity to outline the facts of the story, which has not been reported in the media and which truth has been actively silenced by the Little Wings Board.
1. Trudy Fittler and her son Noah was the first family Little Wings assisted in September 2012. Trudy has made false allegations including sexual assault and harassment during the time that her family used the Little Wings service as reported in the media at the beginning of June.
2. Trudy and I struck up a good friendship as I have with most families, and Trudy took a very strong interest in what I was working to achieve with the flight service. Early 2013 Trudy made it very clear to me that her marriage was over not because of stress from the condition of her son Noah, but because she was in a bad marriage and had been for a long time and wanted to move to Sydney. In her words she was in a suffocating and controlling relationship and living a life in a country town that wasn’t her. She considered herself to be a city person trapped in a country town and was committed to changing her life. I was very clear with Trudy that I would not start a relationship with anyone that was still married or less than 12 months out of relationship and I have Facebook messages to show this. Interest from Trudy intensified which included her sending me naked photos of herself via Facebook and Text message, and her ASKING for a naked photo of myself. Regrettably I did this believing in what she was telling me, and I cannot defend this action regardless of the circumstances as it was simply wrong. I was not in a relationship or seeing anyone during this period and my crime is trusting a person that has systematically lied about every aspect of her life. It was my decision to stop what was developing, not hers.
3. In May and June 2013 Trudy supported some media Little Wings were doing with Noah on the Channel 9 Mornings. If she was harassed for 12 months she would have had to being harassed at this point and she would not have supported doing the media so the claim cannot be true. Trudy has claimed to police that she was sexually assaulted by me on 29th May 2013 in Penrith, but was involved in a medial story on Mornings 25thJune 2013 where a donation was made on air by Midea Air, and Trudy confirmed scans from Noah were all clear and he was on the road to recovery. Why would she be supporting me 3 weeks after being sexually assaulted? I have email evidence to support this.
4. Trudy remained in regular contact with me via phone, Facebook and text including inviting me for weekends away in towns around Armidale so we could catch up which I declined. I had the opportunity but consciously decided against it as it wasn’t right. She continued with her story that she was moving to live in Sydney with 3 of her kids and wanted to know if there was interest from me in a relationship. I repeatedly made it clear that I would not get involved with her.
5. Late 2013, I was having doubts about what Trudy was telling me and I decided to back away from her. For their flight in September I had another Little Wings volunteer do the drive. Trudy remained in contact with me through to March 2014, including sending Merry Christmas text messages. The last flight service provided was 21st March 2014 and she was still actively in contact with me despite my efforts to distance myself. This again all shows that I was not harassing her, and she was actively engaging with me.
6. Mid-April 2014 Trudy saw a Facebook photo post of myself and my new partner at the football. My partner was aware that I had a “problem” family that I was distancing myself from, and she witnessed the text and Facebook messages from Trudy which had remained friendly up until that point. At this point Trudy sent me an “angry” text “When were you going to tell me?” which I showed to my partner and I responded that Trudy and I were not in a relationship and I had no reason to tell her. Clearly Trudy felt rejected and this is when the trouble started.
7. April 2014 Trudy revoked media rights and contacted Guyra police to complain I was using photos without their permission. A Constable at that police station became a mediator and told me Trudy was an unstable personality but he was happy to smooth it out with her. If Trudy has been harassed why did she not lodge a complaint at this point and why did she never raise it with her husband, the Children’s Hospital Westmead (CHW) or Ronald McDonald House (RMH)?? The reason is that it’s because there was no issue to raise.
8. Complaints were then lodged in April 2014 with the CHW and RMH that I was sending Trudy unwanted naked photos of myself. During the time in question there was no MOU in place and I considered the matter to be personal so I denied the allegation. Trudy was unable to provide any evidence and the matter was closed.
9. Trudy has by this stage created a story to her husband Leo that I was pursuing her and harassing her. Leo then created a fake Facebook profile under the name Lidia Hope-Clark and became friends via the Little Wings page and my personal page. The ‘fake’ Lidia Hope-Clark then submits a complaint to RMH and CHW that I’m disclosing confidential information about patients and I’m unfit to be the CEO of a charity. This then extends to messages to my partner on Facebook claiming that Lidia (Leo) is in an intimate sexual relationship with me and she should be careful. My partner at this stage had full access to my personal Facebook page and was able to prove the claims were fictitious. We did not discover the page was Leo Fittler until March 2015.
10. I have evidence that Leo Fittler has created other false identities and this has been submitted to the police.
11. In March 2015, I was interviewed by Penrith detectives for the alleged sexual assault of Trudy Fittler on May 29th 2013. No case was found, I was released and the case closed. Media reports as well as statements by members of the Little Wings Board were that the case remains open and indicate it’s in relation to the photos which is completely false. Keep in mind that Trudy supported the Midea Air donation on-air 25th June, 3 weeks after she claims I sexually assaulted her, and continued to use the service and wants catch up for coffee until March 2014 as well as sending a ‘Merry Christmas’ text messages in December 2013 on Boxing day. If she was sexually assaulted why would she do this??
12. September 2014 Trudy makes a complaint to the Little Wings Board who engage Gilbert & Tobin Lawyers to manage the claim. Again Trudy is unable to provide any factual information to support her allegations. I continued to deny the photo allegation because I considered it a personal matter, and giving this allegation any oxygen would not be good for the charity as Trudy was clearly a very vindictive person and willing to lie about the circumstances to personally destroy me. The Board had every opportunity to validate the accusations but failed to do so.
13. Important to note that at no time over the last 18months Trudy Fittler has NOT provided a single message from Facebook, SMS text, or email that validates her allegations of being harassed by me over
12 months. This is despite being requested to do so by Little Wings legal representatives and the Board. I have provided email evidence and Facebook messages to the SCHN in September 2014 to support my version of events, which have also now been provided to the police. If Facebook messages are now presented by Trudy Fittler they can have only been recently fraudulently created in an effort to support her false allegations. May 2015 Trudy takes her story to the media, as well as Little Wings sponsors ClubsNSW and Hyundai. I met with the CEO of ClubsNSW Anthony Ball and provided him with a full account of the circumstances. Anthony advised that he was not interested in my version, the truth or any facts. He was only interested in what went into the media because that would be the truth from a public perspective. So being a foundation partner counted for nothing and it was a one sided relationship. ClubsNSW were only interested in their brand image, and had no interest in what impact this might have on Little Wings. The Little Wings Board folded under pressure and have conservatively cost the charity over $300k in lost revenue to save $30k in funding from ClubsNSW. The longer term financial losses will be much greater because of the incompetent management of this situation
14. In an attempt to defuse the situation I offered to resign as CEO and director to remove myself from any governance of Little Wings but continue as founder which I considered to be in the best interests of the charity.
Trudy Fittler is now telling people that Richelle has offered to unblock her and give her access to the Little Wings Facebook page to support the service. This goes to the heart of how poor the decision to appoint a person of Richelle’scalibre to the role of MD is. She clearly doesn’t have the business acumen, experience or common sense to make important decisions. The stupidity of this being considered is one thing, but it also further supports the view that the Board is actually leading people to believe the Trudy Fittler story. The last newsletter which many of you received again shows contempt and nothing short of poor judgement by Richelle Koller by highlighting that fact that I was terminated, and generating increased public interest has a very damaging effect on the charity.
The Little Wings staff have been nothing short of totally dedicated and given fully of their time and energy to do anything to help the families and build the service. They deserve a Board that reflects their passion and dedication and the current Board are not worthy of the positions they hold.
Unfortunately, due to the financial situation that Little Wings has left me in, I cannot afford to launch a defamation case but will be seeking a solution to get this started in the near future.
The Little Wings service was on track to deliver 400 flights for 1200 passengers in FY2016, and was on track to build and 1000 free flights annually for 3000 passengers who need this service across NSW. Sadly the actions of Trudy Fittler and the Board now makes this unachievable. It is my wish that Little Wings can continue to deliver the service but this is only going to be achieved if the current Board is forced to stand down. A new Board needs to be appointed that has the best interest of the charity in mind and can successfully lead the dedicated staff, volunteers and stakeholders to make the charity a success.
My reasons for writing this are twofold. Firstly to clear my name from the allegations made. Up until this point I have had not opportunity to defend myself and now have no option but to take this course of action.
Secondly because I have no confidence that the charity will reach its goals and will decline because the drive and commitment from the Board is simply not there to replace what I have done for 4 years. Unlike Richelle Koller I’m not seeking to be employed by the charity on a $100k salary. Those of you who know me personally will know that. What I do want is a Board that represents the hard work and values of the charity.
Once again, I thank you all for your ongoing support of my Little Wings adventure and hope that we find another reason to work together in the future
