But for the bystanding voyeurs, reading the entrails of the accusations contained in the court documents has been immensely enthralling.
Let’s recap some of the highlights.
At the beginning of last year, the board made the highly unorthodox move to announce it was expecting to be hit with a lawsuit seeking $30 million to $50 million for claims including non-disclosure of the affair, inappropriate company travel, bullying, victimisation and adverse treatment.
The board had conducted an investigation with the help of external lawyers and thought Heraghty was in the clear.
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It was an aggressive, bold but ultimately foolhardy stance given, as it turned out, they were duped.
Directors were ultimately left with a face omelet this month after they got fresh information from Heraghty about the true nature of his relationship with Kelly.
The board had stuck with its support of Heraghty for 18 months despite court documents that surfaced in September last year revealing details of an allegedly toxic work culture within the company – including accusations the chief executive misused company funds to carry on an illicit affair with the head of human resources, along with bullying, harassment and fiery staff meetings. Those allegations were denied by the company and will not be tested in court given the case has settled.
The document contained allegations of a heated exchange between Heraghty and executives during which he was “screaming at them to such an extent that he was spitting at them”.
The documents also alleged that Heraghty’s executive assistant resigned in October 2023 because of the secret relationship, after having been informed by the CEO’s ex-wife of the affair and “observing questionable expenses, travel arrangements and the like in relation to the CEO and (Ms Kelly)”.
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Undeterred, the board proposed a resolution at its annual meeting last October to grant a swag of performance rights to Heraghty – which it said last week he now wouldn’t receive.
To the extent that there is any upside to the sordid saga, the company’s financial performance has remained in good health. Over the past six months, shareholders seem to have ignored the background noise and bid the shares up a healthy 26 per cent.
So much for standing by your man.
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