Darryl Evans has refused to respond to the allegations. Photo / Dean Purcell, File
By Guyon Espiner of RNZ
A high-profile advocate for the downtrodden, Darryl Evans, presided over "a poor workplace culture" at the Māngere Budgeting Service, where he "appeared to monitor staff through security cameras".
Evans also employed three of his close family members, including his son - who lived at the food bank for more than a year, in an apparent breach of the charity's lease arrangements.
Evans resigned in March after RNZ put detailed allegations made by six former staff to him and to the board of the budgeting service, chaired by former lawyer Alistaire Hall.
Evans refused to respond to the allegations at the time and Hall said Evans had stepped down because of poor health, but that the allegations would be investigated.
A report by barristers Kingi Snelgar and Danielle Kelly, released yesterday, found that the budgeting service "had many features of a poor workplace culture".
"The reported conduct towards at least one employee had all the characteristics of bullying".
The barristers who wrote the report were unable to contact Evans, who has also not responded to messages left by RNZ.
Workers at the food bank and charity told the inquiry Evans "criticised or reprimanded staff and others in public and made disparaging comments to and about staff that undermined their confidence".
The report says that Evans "appeared to monitor staff through security cameras" and on one occasion warned staff social media use at work was being monitored.
"Staff felt fearful about requesting leave or being late, even when this was due to a death or medical emergency of someone close. Overall, staff did not feel valued and had little flexibility, autonomy or trust."
The report says it appeared "these aspects of the work culture existed, unchecked" over many years. "Many staff were stressed, anxious, and burnt out."
The report also confirms accusations made to RNZ that Evans had employed several family members and that those conflicts "were not appropriately managed".
Evans employed three of his close family members, including his husband and his son.
The report says all three contributed time, effort, and skill to the trust.
"However, the former CEO had a conflict of interest in decisions to hire these family members, and in later decisions to increase their wages and manage their employment."
The report says he sought board approval for the appointments but didn't manage the conflicts and became involved in their day-to-day management.
"This failure led to an inevitable perception that family members received preferential treatment in their employment and the management of their employment, including pay increases, payment for overtime, and flexibility in their employment."
Evans also allowed his son, a food bank assistant, to live at the food bank between early 2021 and April 2022.
The report said the charity did not receive any income from the arrangement, which "appeared to be contrary to the trust's lease of the foodbank premises".
There was also "allegedly a physical altercation" at the food bank in April 2021 between family members employed by the charity, resulting in the police being called.
"There is no record of the former CEO or any other person taking any investigative or disciplinary action in relation to this alleged incident between employees," the report says. "Staff described being told by the former CEO not to take any action in relation to it."
The report found that there was a risk that the decisions Evans made in relation to these matters was "influenced by his own personal interests".
The report says the board, chaired by Alistaire Hall, who has been with the charity since 1994, had a high level of trust in Evans and was not closely monitoring his actions as CEO.
"In our view, the board should have taken a more active role to assure itself that adequate steps were taken to respond to these conflicts."
Hall told RNZ that he would now stand down as chair of the charity, although he said that was not related to these troubles and that he had signalled his intention to resign some time ago.
Staff had also complained to RNZ that while they were supporting others struggling financially, they were struggling themselves because wages were so low.
The report said while the charity had met legal obligations to pay at least the minimum wage, some staff employed for many years in positions of responsibility, "remained on the lowest or near-lowest rates".
It said the pay for Evans was "more generous" but not significantly out of step with other CEOs, including in the not-for-profit sector.
"However, the trust did not have transparent processes, either for assessing the CEO's salary and bonus, or for reviewing wages of employees," the report says.
"This contributed to a perception of unfairness among staff, and to discrepancies in rates of pay between employees with no recorded justification."
The report says the trust should now review its pay rates across all roles in the organisation, particularly in light of increases in cost of living.
Staff also told RNZ that Evans had exaggerated the number of food parcels the trust handed out, in publicity material relating to awards recognising the food bank.
In 2020, Evans received the ASB Good as Gold award for his service to the south Auckland community and was also voted Westfield Manukau 'Local Hero of The Year' in 2020.
The report said it was hard to verify the number of food parcels distributed because the trust did not keep thorough records.
"However, the records indicated that the number of food parcels given out in the year ending June 2020 was significantly lower than the numbers quoted in the media at that time," it said. "As we have not been able to speak to the former-CEO, we are unable to reach a conclusion about whether those statements were improperly made."
Among the recommendations made in the report is for the trust to "develop and implement a strong policy about bullying and workplace culture".
It says this should include information about what bullying is, and "confidential avenues for complaints about behaviour, including that of a CEO, where necessary".
The report said the trust should also "consider showing its commitment to the living wage by becoming an accredited living wage employer".
Evans, who joined the Māngere Budgeting Service in 2004 and spent many of the intervening years as CEO, has been a high-profile advocate for people in poverty and has been politically well-connected.
The patron of the budgeting service is the former Prime Minister Helen Clark, although the former Labour leader told RNZ she hadn't engaged with the trust recently as she was too busy.
One former staff member, who RNZ has agreed to call Maia, said staff had been reluctant to speak out because of Evans' profile and political connections.
"He is a public figure," she said. "The little fish like myself and the five other people would have not had a chance."
On the Māngere Budgeting Service website, Evans was described as having "built a strong reputation fighting for people's rights" and "is often the first port of call by mainstream media".
Maia said she went to work for the service after seeing Evans on TV.
"I was thinking, I want to be a part of that service," she said. "I'm a Māngere girl. This is my community. To find that he wasn't serving them the best that he could have. It's disappointing. It's heartbreaking."
Another staff member, who RNZ has agreed to call Ian, said working at the charity was "one of the worst experiences" of his life.
"I went in there thinking I was going to do good and help people and it's just been a nightmare."
In a statement, the Māngere Budgeting Service board said it had not known about the workplace culture problems but "accepts it can and must take a more active and visible role to ensure no problems arise in the future".
It said the trust accepted all the recommendations made in the inquiry and many of those were already underway.
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