Katrin Schwarz

In mid-February 2021 the NSRC Chairman, Gawain Briars, instigated a sequence of actions with the intention of and resulting in isolating and excluding a legitimately elected Director, Katrin Schwarz, from her entitlement to take part in the running and management of the club.

This was achieved through the illegitimate abuse of the club’s Articles of Association and in conjunction with the collaboration of certain Directors contrary to their statutory obligations under the Companies Act 2006.

Having been elected onto the Board of Directors (Committee) at the 13 January 2021 Annual General meeting Katrin Schwarz volunteered to sit on the newly established ‘opening times’ sub-group. The sub-group’s purpose was to consider and to determine the club’s return‐to‐play opening hours following the lifting of Covid restrictions.

It had been accepted by all, including Nick Hargreaves (General Manager), that the club’s insurance requirements and Covid-19 risk assessment to have been key factors in the sub‐group’s work.

Following several email requests to be provided with the associated documentation necessary to undertake her work, culminating in Nick Hargreaves’ (General Manager) baffling refusal to provide a copy of the Covid risk assessment, Katrin Schwarz received an equally baffling, rather strongly worded rebuke from Gawain Briars.

I’ve been informed that you have attempted to obtain information in regard to the club’s insurance and a purported Covid risk assessment…Your actions could appear to seek to undermine fellow directors and management and they breach committee governance protocols…For directors to behave in this manner would lead to a dysfunctional board…

To now send emails as you have done is at best questionable if not subversive. It is not my wish to bring this to the committee’s attention, so kindly desist immediately from any such further activity and ensure you bring any matters of concern to the committee itself.“

Gawain Briars (NSRC Chairman):
(15 February 2021)

Katrin Schwarz, not understanding the fundamental basis of the accusations and being unaware of the referenced “committee governance protocols”, apologised for any inadvertent transgression and politely requested that these “committee governance protocols” be circulated to all Committee members to avoid future confusion.

Instead of receiving the politely requested protocols Gawain Briars continued his assault, responding thus:

Karen…it is not for me to teach you the proper manner in which a board member should conduct themselves… If you do not know (which would beg the question as to whether or not you are fit and proper to have joined the board) then you should make your own enquiries to educate yourself as a matter of urgency.“

Gawain Briars (NSRC Chairman):
18 February 2021)

Click here to view/download the full email chain

Why Katrin Schwarz’s wholly transparent and legitimate requests, to be provided with such innocuous documentation as the club’s insurance policy and Covid risk assessment, elicited such an extreme attack from the Chairman, Gawain Briars, remains unexplained. Such documentation should, of course, be accessible to any ordinary club member never mind a company Director attempting to carry out company business.

That Gawain Briars refused to provide his “committee governance protocols”, choosing to continue his attack, suggests that they do not exist save for in his own mind. Perhaps created to justify his accusations of wrongdoing in order to facilitate concealment of the documents’ content. Only Gawain Briars knows.

As a consequence of receiving the above emails Katrin Schwarz submitted a formal complaint against Gawain Briars citing bullying and intimidatory behaviour. His response was to reject the complaint and to avoid an independent investigation by abusing his position of power to, instead, instigate a motion of confidence in himself knowing that he would win – the majority of the Committee being loyalist supporters.

At the 24 February 2021 Committee meeting (held online) Gawain Briars, unsurprisingly, won his self-instigated motion of confidence and proceeded to demand Katrin Schwarz’s resignation which, despite being severely pressured, she refused to do.

Expecting that she might refuse to resign, Gawain Briars immediately instigated a clearly pre-planned vote intended to isolate and to disenfranchise her. He tabled a motion to transfer all the Committee’s powers to a newly formed “Management Committee” comprising all Directors except her. Again, unsurprisingly, he won the vote. From that point on Katrin Schwarz was frozen out – prevented from taking any further part in the running of the club as was her entitlement as an elected Director.

Over the next seven months, until her resignation immediately prior to the November 2021 AGM, Katrin Schwarz was subjected to further intimidatory, bullying and belittling behaviour by the Committee.

In May 2021 she was asked by a club member, who wished to remain anonymous, to report to the Committee their concerns in respect of fire safety legislation compliance. The direct response of fellow Director, Jörg Thunecke, was (translated from German):

Do you really have nothing better to do than to
make trouble and to whine all the time?“
–

Jörg Thunecke (NSRC Director):
(13 May 2021)

Her, subsequently, submitted complaint against Jörg Thunecke’s demeaning email was, as with her complaint against the Chairman, Gawain Briars, rejected. The absurd explanation issued on behalf of the Committee via the Secretary, Steve Payne, was that it was a private matter having been written in German not English.

I have dealt with this as previously stated. Joerg has been reminded of his responsibility and has stated that it was a private matter as it was written in German. As far as I am concerned the matter has been dealt with on receipt of your initial email. The content of the email is private, as I prefer to deal with these matters on a personal level.“

Steve Payne (NSRC Secretary):
(19 May 2021)

This pattern of targeted, bullying and intimidatory behaviour was also apparent at the last Annual General Meeting in November 2021 at which Katrin Schwarz was, again, standing for election onto the Board of Directors. This concerned the deliberate attempt by the club’s managers, Nick Hargreaves and Kevin Emery, to influence the outcome of the elections. On the day of the AGM election they issued a text message extraordinarily instructing members NOT to vote for Katrin Schwarz.

Kev and I would like to urgently reach out to all of our friends at NSRC. We would like to ask for your help in voting for Richard O’Connor NOT Shaun Walsh and please DO NOT vote for Katrin Schwartz in today’s AGM vote…Please, please help with your vote today.“

Nick Hargreaves (General Manager) & Kevin Emery (Assistant Manager)
(24 November 2021)

On 27 January 2022 as she’d predicted might happen, Katrin Schwarz received notification of the Committee’s instigation of disciplinary action against her specifically threatening expulsion from the club. She was instructed to, “alone”, attend a disciplinary hearing on 22 February 2022.

The complaint put before you is that your actions and permitted publications undermine the good name and integrity of the club, its elected committees past and present and directors past and present, and your previous and continuing conduct is wholly inconsistent with the spirit, ethos and welfare of our squash club and its membership.“

Gawain Briars (NSRC Chairman & Secretary):
(27 January 2022)

Essentially, Katrin Schwarz was being disciplined for having dared to make public the bullying and intimidatory treatment she had received at the hands of specific directors, and the Committee and management in general, on so many occasions over the past year. Of course this is contrary to the Committee’s preference to act secretively – concealing matters from members by declaring everything to be either confidential, private or sensitive.

Going on past form it’s reasonable to assume that the disciplinary panel, who will sit in judgment and pass sentence on her, will comprise the very same Directors who agreed to instigate these disciplinary proceedings and who have bullied and intimidated her throughout. There is no independent panel nor is there an appeal process – hardly a recipe for fairness or justice.

Update: Unsurprisingly, on 23 February 2022, Katrin Schwarz received notification that the Disciplinary Panel had upheld the complaint and that, consequently, she was expelled from the club with immediate effect. Read more…Former Director Katrin Schwarz expelled…how depressingly predictable

Statement of Katrin Schwarz (Nov 2021)

To read full details click on the above link or here.