Boss screams ‘I am the CEO’ at employee who tried to mistreat charity volunteers. She lost the job but won £2,160 with her next move

A charity worker who had challenged her boss over how he was treating volunteers got sacked after she was accused of being part of a campaign against the boss. She then took her dismissal to an employment tribunal, where it was concluded that the charity had not properly investigated the allegations before sacking her.

According to The Independent, Julie Mayes used to work as a community support worker at The Carrbridge Centre in Wirral, Merseyside.

Concerns about CEO's behaviour

Mayes had joined the charity on January 4, 2022 to help the people in need by arranging community support and providing emergency food to the.


However, her relationship with Gibbs went downhill over six to eight months of working with him. According to The Independent, he would “shout and swear and throw boxes” at work and one volunteer had even reportedly walked out after a major incident.

Mayes had also raised concerns about his alleged inappropriate behaviour, by stating that he sometimes used sexualised language. She recalled that on one occasion he “jumped on a table and gyrated and thrusted his hips”.

She had discussed these concerns with two charity trustees on July 18, 2024, explaining that some volunteers and service users had backgrounds involving abuse and that such behaviour could trigger traumatic memories for them.

‘I am the CEO’: The confrontation

The situation escalated on August 21, 2024, when a service user complained about crates blocking the entrance to the charity's Hub.

Gibbs allegedly reacted angrily towards volunteers. Mayes tried to stand between him and the volunteers, but he turned his anger towards her, accusing her of wrongly suggesting that he had committed sexual abuse.

The tribunal heard that he was “screaming in her face” and saying, “I am the CEO”.

During a later meeting with trustees, she recalled leaving the centre, getting into her car and “cried my eyes out”. She was then told to work from home.

Why did the charity fire her?

On September 4, the trustees got to know that Mayes had complained about Gibbs at a community meeting. They became concerned about what they believed was a campaign to remove the chief executive.

Following a fact-finding meeting, Mayes was accused of participating in a group with the “malicious aim of removing the current management and the CEO”. She was dismissed for gross misconduct on September 30, 2024. Her appeal was rejected.

However, Employment Judge Alan Johnson ruled that the charity had failed to properly examine the evidence. The trustees had relied heavily on an anonymous witness without establishing what Mayes had actually said at the meeting.

She was awarded £2,160.81 for unfair dismissal. Her separate complaint relating to dismissal after making a protected disclosure was not upheld.