A long-serving employee of John Fredriksen's Frontline Management has claimed she was wrongfully dismissed — in a lawsuit that lifts the lid on management practices and behind-the-scenes drama.
Sophia Ronaas, 61, served for more than 20 years inside Fredriksen's Oslo stronghold until she was fired in June last year. Robert Hvide Macleod, then chief executive, blamed her for leaking confidential information and for failing to prevent an alleged embezzlement.
But in her lawsuit seeking reinstatement, Ronaas denies the accusations. She contends she had angered Macleod by warning about the way business was being conducted.
Ronaas is demanding back pay and compensation for wrongful termination and the allegedly illegal ransacking of her email account.
The court has not yet ruled, but Norwegian business daily Dagens Naeringsliv has reported in detail on the trial in Oslo District Court.
Ronaas' positions within the organisation ranged from Frontline Management bookkeeper to personal tax preparer for Fredriksen and his two daughters, and even to a stint as chairman of the board of Fredriksen's family investment company Seatankers Management Norway.
Her central vantage point in private companies gave her access to insider information on the publicly listed companies managed by them.
Court sessions featured a parade of current and former Fredriksen employees called as witnesses. Fredriksen himself was not among them — as a Cypriot citizen he could not be compelled to testify.
When contacted by TradeWinds, Macleod was unwilling to comment and Seatankers chief executive Tor Andre Svelland referred all enquiries to Frontline Management interim chief executive Lars Barstad.
"As this is an ongoing employment lawsuit, Frontline neither can nor will comment publicly on any aspects of this case at this point in time," Barstad said. "We respectfully refer to our closing arguments in court, where our position was clearly portrayed."
Ronaas' lawyer Tonje Liavaag did not respond to a request for comment.
Five years, 39 employees, 20 departures
A rapid turnover of the C-suite has seen Fredriksen's companies hit the headlines, and the trial allows a look behind them.
Testimony has centred on a five-year period when more than 20 employees at Frontline Management were either dismissed or abruptly resigned because they were fed up, according to Ronaas.
During the period, Ronaas and several colleagues were alarmed at the direction management was going.
Macleod, chief executive of Frontline Management from November 2014 to October 2020, allegedly ignored repeated warnings from Ronaas until she went over his head to let Fredriksen know that spending was out of control and accounting laws were being broken.
In a 2015 letter to then-chair of Frontline Management Harald Herstad, she warned of too-free spending and violations of Norwegian bookkeeping laws.
Dagens Naeringsliv reported that Herstad took the letter to Fredriksen, who gave the signal for a tightening up of routines.
The protracted crisis of ill-fated rig owner Seadrill was claiming much of Fredriksen's time and attention. "It was difficult to get into good contact with him at that time. He was not so interested in everyday matters because of all the problems with Seadrill," Herstad told the Oslo court.
According to Ronaas, that early episode made an enemy of Macleod, who sought to rid himself of the bookkeeper.
But it was only last June that Ronaas was fired.
Mysterious un-invoiced commissions
She testified that the firing followed confrontations in which management accused her of leaking confidential "insider" information about Fredriksen-controlled public companies, and that they threatened to file a police complaint over commission payments that were allegedly never received from a little-known Norwegian company called Treade.
Frontline Management never accused Ronaas of having taken the missing funds, only of having neglected to prevent the loss in alleged neglect of her duties.
Frontline Management originally claimed some NOK 100m ($11.7m) in losses but eventually reduced it to NOK 20m and last year settled the dispute with Treade.
Ronaas testified that the Treade commissions were in the hands of Frontline Ltd in London, and Frontline Management had nothing to do with handling them, under unwritten arrangements between John Fredriksen and Treade that date back to the 1980s.
Fredrikstad-based Treade is a supplier of ship equipment. But sources at Treade told TradeWinds that the dispute concerns "shipowner consultancy services" that a now-retired Treade director provided.
Treade managing director Terje Andersen did not respond to a request for comment.
This story has been amended since publication to clarify that Frontline Management is a subsidiary of tanker owner Frontline.
