https://shippingwatch.com/Offshore/article13569560.ece 
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The chief executive of listed Danish drilling rig group Maersk Drilling, Jørn Madsen, has been issued a warning by the company board following verbal abuse of a female colleague.
After a situation in the spring of 2021, where Madsen yelled at a female subordinate, several reports were submitted to Maersk Drilling's whistleblower system, according to Finans' information.
Those reporting the episode described how the female employee had been subjected to gross verbal abuse, and that she was subsequently dismissed. The reports prompted an external legal investigation conducted by law firm Norrbom Vinding.
As a consequence of the investigation, the board of directors gave Madsen a warning, as confirmed by Chair Claus V. Hemmingsen in communication with Finans.
Hemmingsen says that the board was notified earlier this year of a situation in which Madsen came into a discussion with an employee at the main office, and that the situation "escalated to a point at which Madsen expressed his frustration loudly".
According to Hemmingsen, the legal investigation concluded that there was no cause for employment-related sanctions regarding Madsen.
"I agree with this conclusion, which provided the backdrop for Jørn [Madsen] receiving a warning," Hemmingsen writes in a comment.
Hemmingsen also points out that Madsen "immediately acknowledged that his conduct in the situation had been inappropriate for a person in his position".
The female employee was fired a few days after the episode. Finans is aware of her identity, but she has declined to comment on the matter.
At the start of 2021, I flew off the handle and addressed an employee far too harshly. It was by no means alright, and shortly afterward I gave my unreserved apology to the employee in question.
Jørn Madsen, CEO, Maersk DrillingHemmingsen won't answer as to why the employee was dismissed, but he denies that it has anything to do with the episode.
"On principle and of consideration to the concerned parties, we do not discuss the details of individual persons' employment conditions, but I will in this case underscore that the dismissal of the employee in question was not prompted by the incident," he writes in a comment.
Madsen's conduct stands in immediate contrast to Maersk Drilling's outward signals. The group holds "humbleness" among its core values and on its website pledges to "listen, learn, share, and give space to others." Another core value is to create "the right environment for the right people."
Madsen regrets the situation.
"At the start of 2021, I flew off the handle and addressed an employee far too harshly. It was by no means alright, and shortly afterward I gave my unreserved apology to the employee in question. I would like to repeat that: I am deeply sorry about my conduct in the situation. I was rightly issued a warning, which I take and have taken very seriously," he writes in a comment.
Fiery temper
Besides Hemmingsen, himself a former CEO of Maersk Drilling, the rig operator's board also includes Robert Mærsk Uggla, CEO of the Mærsk family's investment firm, A.P. Moller Holding. A.P. Moller Holding owns 41.6 percent of Maersk Drilling, while the A.P. Moller Foundation owns 8.9 percent.
A.P. Moller Holding declines to comment on the matter.
"I refer to Maersk Drilling's chairman of the board, Claus Hemmingsen, who speaks on behalf of the board," writes Head of Branding and Communications Mika Bildsøe Lassen to Finans in an email.
According to a number of sources, Madsen at times expresses a fiery temper, which is well-known in the organization. Several people Finans has spoken to have themselves been verbally abused by the CEO or witnessed others who have.
But Chair Hemmingsen underscores that neither satisfaction measurements, reports to the ethical hotline, regular feedback conversations nor work environment investigations have given reasons to conclude that Maersk Drilling has a general problem.
In November, it was announced that Maersk Drilling will be taken over by US drilling group Noble. The merger is slated to take place in mid-2022, and Madsen is expected to remain with the company until it is complete.