Post Office chief executive Nick Read has told his staff he “absolutely refutes” bullying claims made by the company’s former chairman.
Henry Staunton wrote to MPs on Monday, telling them Mr Read should have focused more on tackling misogyny rather than “agitating about his pay”.
Mr Staunton also said the Post Office’s former HR director felt there was an attitude from “Read and his henchmen” towards her as a “pain in the arse for focusing on tackling the toxic culture rather than prioritising Read’s salary”.
He said he believed the chief executive’s behaviour constituted “bullying”.
In comments made to Post Office staff on Wednesday morning, obtained by the PA news agency, Mr Read said he has “plenty to say” about the allegations, but has been “reluctant to speak out because I don’t think it’s appropriate”.
He told staff in his weekly “stand up to internal Post Office colleagues” meeting, also known as “Ten at Ten”, that media reporting of the claims has forced him to say he refutes them.
Mr Staunton drew the Business and Trade Committee’s attention to a document last week, which he said detailed an investigation into Mr Read’s conduct.
Asked if he had anything to say about allegations made about him in the media over the past few days, Mr Read said: “I’ve got plenty to say about that.
“But as many of you all know, I’ve been very reluctant to speak out about this process.
“It’s really important, I think, for me that the integrity of our whistleblowing process is allowed to continue, that the investigation, which is being run by an external barrister, is allowed to conclude, and that anything I may say, I don’t want to jeopardise that process.
“I think it’s incredibly important that for all of you and for me as well, but for all of you to feel that you are able to speak up and that the process has integrity is incredibly important.
“So I’ve been reluctant to speak out because I don’t think it’s appropriate.
“But I guess the allegations and the insinuations and the reporting in the media forces me to say I absolutely refute the allegations that have been made against me and I will stand by that.”
The Post Office previously said the “Speak Up” document contained allegations against other individuals, as well as the chief executive, and that an external investigation would conclude at the end of the month or the start of April.
In a letter to MPs, Mr Staunton said of the document: “The Speak Up complaint was entirely directed at Nick Read, his own conduct and lack of his management of the many governance and compliance issues.
“It should be noted that, the HR director and I were of similar mind in pushing the Post Office CEO for more to be done to increase ethnic representation at senior levels, as well as tackle the misogyny that was pervasive in the organisation and spend less time agitating about his pay.”
He added: “She had no doubt that I was fully supportive of her position, and she had previously come to me on numerous occasions for advice on how to deal with Read’s behaviour towards her, which in her, and my view, constituted bullying.”
A spokesman for the Post Office said there were inaccuracies and falsehoods included in Mr Staunton’s claims.
The Post Office has come under fire following the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which put the Horizon IT scandal under the spotlight.
More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.
Hundreds of subpostmasters are still awaiting compensation despite the Government announcing those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.