Inside the high-powered ‘secret romance’ that has rocked a $4billion a year retail giant – as lawyers circle with a $50million lawsuit

The owner of Rebel sports stores was aware of an alleged secret relationship between his CEO and HR boss months before it was acknowledged, lawyers claim.

Rebel is part of retail giant Super Retail Group, which also includes Supercheap Auto, adventure clothing brand Macpac and outdoor specialist BCF.

Two senior female executives are now preparing for a potential $50 million lawsuit against the conglomerate over allegations of bullying and poor management.

Their lawyers claim they have explosive evidence of a secret liaison between CEO Anthony Heraghty and human resources chief Jane Kelly.

Super Retail Group has denied that Mr Heraghty had a clandestine relationship with Ms Kelly, who left the company in November 2023 after more than seven years.

Daily Mail Australia understands Mr Heraghty and Ms Kelly are separated from their respective spouses and both have children from those marriages.

The alleged relationship became public knowledge when Super Retail Group made a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on April 26.

The company announced that the two female executives – neither of whom are Ms. Kelly – would initiate legal proceedings seeking losses and damages of $30 million to $50 million.

The Brisbane-based Super Retail Group has an annual turnover of $3.8 billion and Mr Heraghty received a total compensation package of $4.15 million last year.

Harmers Workplace Lawyers announced on Monday that it is now representing four clients who had made allegations of poor management at Super Retail Group.

According to Super Retail Group, these claims include bullying, retaliation, adverse treatment, unreasonable workload and insufficient resources and inappropriate corporate travel practices.

Super Retail Group said its board had engaged independent external advisers to investigate the claims – including the alleged secret romance – and found none were true.

The company would defend any legal proceedings relating to the allegations and keep the ASX informed of any developments.

“As these matters are expected to be subject to litigation, the group does not intend to comment further at this time,” the report said.

Harmers said it had been contacted by more current and former employees who had similar concerns about Super Retail Group following the announcement to the ASX.

“We are confident that other current and former SRG employees will support our clients’ claims,” a statement from Harmers said.

One person not associated with Super Retail Group had come forward with “important evidence” about the relationship between Mr Heraghty and Ms Kelly, the statement said.

The Australian newspaper quoted an unnamed source close to Super Retail Group management as describing the potential claim as “like blackmail or a shakedown.”

Harmers said his clients had offered to settle the case confidentially for less than a third of the amount predicted by State Retail Group – $10 million to $16 million.

“SRG is fully aware that this is not a shakedown, but a legitimate legal claim for damages involving deliberate misrepresentation,” the report said.

‘The SRG board is said to have been aware of the relationship since December 2023 – despite SRG’s sharp denials of that relationship until recently this month.’

Harmers said Super Retail Group appeared “solely focused” on the claims of a relationship between Mr Heraghty and Ms Kelly, but this was only one aspect of the alleged governance issues.

“For the avoidance of doubt, as recently as this month SRG denied the existence of any such relationship of any kind,” the report said.

‘When Harmers pointed out that she had clear evidence of an intimate relationship, and therefore of a significant unreported conflict of interest, SRG’s position immediately changed.’

Harmers claimed that after Super Retail Group made the ASX announcement, it told a number of staff that a relationship existed between Mr Heraghty and Ms Kelly from January this year.

“But even as of that date, such a relationship presented significant conflicts of interest,” the report said.

Harmers said one of her clients had filed a complaint in November last year about “the longer-term continued existence of the relationship and its impact on governance issues.”

The complaint, filed on Super Retail Group’s internal Whispli whistleblowing platform, was forwarded to HR management and reported directly to Ms Kelly, Harmers said.

Super Retail Group’s policy on workplace relationships states that ‘they are permitted between team members as long as appropriate disclosure is made to line management’.

Harmers said two of her clients had made protected disclosures about their employment with Super Retail Group in recent months.

“Friday’s ASX announcement and subsequent media coverage, initiated by SRG, amounts to victimizing these whistleblowers and causes them additional harm,” the report said.

Ms Kelly joins Super Retail Group as Chief Human Resources Officer from BT Financial Group, having previously worked at St George Bank and Westpac.

Mr Heraghty has been CEO of Super Retail Group for five years, following a three-year stint as managing director. He was previously group director at Bonds.