The Charity Commission plans to meet top brass at Unicef UK to discuss the contents of an independent review of the departures of its executive director and chair in quick succession amid bullying claims.
The charity yesterday published a summary of the review of the events surrounding the resignations of Sacha Deshmukh and Douglas Alexander, which dismissed claims of bullying made by Deshmukh against former chair Alexander.
Three other Unicef UK employees had also expressed concerns about Alexander’s behaviour, according to the review, which was conducted by the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius UK.
But reviewers found no evidence that Alexander had bullied Deshmukh or any Unicef UK employee.
The commission opened a case into the charity following the departures of Deshmukh, who was just five months into his role, Alexander and Caroline Underwood, one of the charity’s vice-chairs, within the space of 48 hours at the end of September.
A spokesperson for the regulator told Third Sector today: “We are examining the findings of the report, and will be discussing them with the charity later this month.
“In the meantime, our case remains underway.”
Third Sector understands that the meeting will be virtual, and is expected to include Shatish Dasani, interim chair of Unicef UK.
A Unicef spokesperson said: “As promised at the beginning of the review, we have provided the report to the Charity Commission for regulatory purposes.”