As wPolityce.pl discovered, Paweł Mucha, member of the board of directors of the National Bank of Poland, has filed a lawsuit against the NBP. He is demanding payment of overdue bonuses, which he should receive at a reduced rate for several months. Mucha’s claims are worth more than PLN 140,000. zloty. This is another version of the conflict between the former presidential minister and the president of the central bank, Adam Glapiński.
The dispute within the NBP Board of Directors became public in early November, when Mucha took to social media to accuse Glapiński of not performing his duties and not providing the members of the Board of Directors with minutes of the Monetary Policy Board meetings.
Prof. Adam Glapiński replied that this was part of the game in which Mucha tried to obtain additional income:
Mr. Mucha simply demands exorbitant amounts for his work, and the level of performance of this work and the way it is carried out in no way justify this (…) The dispute is only about remuneration and bonuses. It’s all true, the rest are stage directions. Banal, there is no division, no conflict. There are nine members of the management, one of whom is dissatisfied with the remuneration
– said the chairman of the NBP during a press conference on November 9.
The entire NBP board also released a statement strongly criticizing Mucha’s behavior:
The behavior of Mr. Paweł Mucha, member of the NBP Board of Directors, is considered unacceptable and consists in particular of creating an atmosphere of threats, settlements, conflicts, unfounded attempts to impose only his own position, unfounded criticism of colleagues and the President of the NBP, as well as any other actions contrary to the Ethical Principles for Employees of the National Bank of Poland
READ MORE: The NBP Board of Directors has issued a position on Paweł Mucha: his behavior is considered unacceptable
The whole situation was immediately exploited by the politicians of the coalition preparing to come to power, who had already announced an attempt to take Glapiński before the State Tribunal and remove him from the position of President of the NBP using extralegal methods.
The next day, November 10, there was a meeting between Glapiński and Mucha, which seemed to put an end to tensions. At least this is what a member of the NBP board wrote on the X platform:
As the NBP president said, the welfare of the central bank is the most important thing.
READ MORE: End of the conflict at the National Bank of Poland? Paweł Mucha met with President Glapiński. ‘The well-being of the central bank is the most important thing’
However, as we learn, shortly later, in November, Paweł Mucha filed a lawsuit for payment of overdue bonuses and compensation for unequal treatment at work.
Does the fact that the case actually involves money make Glapiński’s statements from over a month ago more likely?
Paweł Mucha demands payment of more than PLN 140,000. PLN, which amount would be the sum of unpaid bonuses (as of March 2023 he would receive lower than other members of the board of directors) and remuneration together with interest, as well as compensation for unequal treatment.
Mucha also complains, among other things, about the removal of his supervision of three NBP departments (today he does not supervise any of them), to the fact that President Glapiński did not allow him to participate in various ceremonies (for example, the opening of the tunnel under Świna), interviews or conferences, and the NBP board of directors removed him through a special resolution. He was given a company car with a driver to take him to work (Mucha lives in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship). He also mentions the non-renewal of his secretary’s contract, the lack of authorization for remote work last summer and delays in the delivery of correspondence addressed to him and sent to the NBP. He also writes about the personal reluctance he felt at Glapiński.
Mucha wants the court in this case to hear all members of the NBP board and conclude that the bonuses and remuneration were not discretionary, but paid automatically for the ordinary performance of their duties.
The lawsuit shows that Mucha’s conflict with Glapiński started at the end of 2022 (he was transferred to the central bank on September 1 last year). The former presidential minister had to express reservations in an increasing number of cases and complain, among other things: to an incorrect inflation projection, or a resolution that prohibited members of the NBP board of directors from abstaining from voting on the resolutions under consideration. Nevertheless, Mucha would receive the full bonus for the last quarter of 2022.
As the months passed, the dispute escalated. Mucha began to criticize subsequent areas of the NBP’s activities, including: crisis preparations, purchase of gold by the National Bank of Poland, HR and wage policies, and even communications policies. He opposed the NBP’s personal nominations of candidates for other bodies, questioned the minutes of board meetings and letters to the Supreme Court.
We decided to verify the information we had with Paweł Mucha ourselves. Our interlocutor did not want to clearly confirm whether he had filed a lawsuit against the central bank. He suggested asking at the National Bank of Poland. He also advises to delve deeper into decisions about the remuneration of directors, pointing out the automatic nature of its allocation.
We also asked how he envisions further cooperation with the other members of the bank’s board of directors, especially with the president, now that he is facing a lawsuit with the NBP, and whether he feels harassed by Adam Glapiński.
We received no answer. Mucha indicated that he did not want to inflame the situation or provide an excuse to accuse him of commenting on issues related to the NBP without proper authorization.
It appears that the case of alleged harassment and unequal treatment will have to be assessed by the court. The dispute at the top of the NBP authorities is unlikely to be resolved in any other way. Worst of all, this affects the work of the National Bank of Poland, one of the most heavily attacked institutions among the few that have remained independent of the new parliamentary majority and newly elected government.
READ ALSO: President of the National Bank of Poland: The dispute with Paweł Mucha is only about pay and bonuses. The rest are stage directions. Paweł Mucha replies: Escape into a personal attack
Marek Pyza
Source: wPolityce