Seven West Media's failure to explain the resignation of a director the day before it announced CEO Tim Worner was cleared of misconduct allegations is unacceptable, the peak shareholders body says.
The resignation of senior lawyer and commercial adviser Sheila McGregor was announced in a brief statement after the close of market on Thursday, a day before the results of an inquiry into serious allegations made against Mr Worner and Seven West by his former lover, Amber Harrison, were announced.
Seven West said on Friday that an independent review of allegations of credit card misuse, drug use and vindictive behaviour, made by former executive assistant Amber Harrison, found the claims could not be substantiated.
Australian Shareholders' Association director Allan Goldin said the company owed shareholders an explanation about Ms McGregor's departure.
"Given the timing of the two announcements, it is likely that Ms McGregor's resignation and the outcome of the investigation are linked," Mr Goldin said.
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"However shareholders can only really guess as the company has not told us anything about the resignation."
He said any three-sentence statement about a director's resignation two years into the job was inadequate.
"For a company and its shareholders awaiting the outcome of an investigation into the affair between its CEO and a former employee, the announcement is unacceptable," Mr Goldin said.
Ms McGregor is a partner at Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers in Sydney and an experienced commercial adviser.
The broadcaster's board said there were no grounds to take any further disciplinary action against Mr Worner, who is married, beyond the action which was taken in 2014 when the company became aware of his affair with Ms Harrison.
"The board has addressed all the issues that have been raised and is confident that Mr Worner will continue to run the company in the interests of all shareholders," the company said in a statement on Friday.
The review, by litigation and investigations lawyer Richard Harris, will not be made public but Seven said the investigation found neither Mr Worner or his office played a part in identifying credit card misuse by Ms Harrison, nor in the payment of a bonus to her.
The review also found no irregularities in Mr Worner's corporate credit card use and that allegations of illicit drug use by Mr Worner could not be substantiated, Seven West said.
Mr Worner's relationship with Ms Harrison, which ended in 2014 before he became CEO, became public knowledge in December when Ms Harrison contacted numerous media outlets with details of the affair and allegations that she had been treated vindictively by the company.
