LAURENCE Modiano resigned from the board of Australian Wool Innovation because he said he could no longer work under the chairmanship of Wal Merriman.
His resignation last week followed a torrid May board meeting, at which Mr Modiano called for a vote of no-confidence in the chairman.
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While Mr Merriman denied to The Weekly Times at the time that such a vote was proposed, it has since emerged as the catalyst in the resignation of Mr Modiano, who was elected to the board in 2008.
This week Mr Merriman conceded he told The Weekly Times "a little fib".
"The vote was proposed but was subsequently withdrawn," Mr Merriman said.
In a lengthy letter explaining his resignation to wool growers, Mr Modiano, who heads up the UK processor and exporter G Modiano & Co, was very forthright in his criticism and comments on AWI, its board, its chairman and its marketing program.
"He (Mr Merriman) objected to my calling for a vote of no-confidence in his chairmanship at the board meeting of May 21 in front of the CEO and legal secretaries," Mr Modiano said.
"When he agreed to declare full confidence in all the members of his board, I accepted to rescind my motion, for which he thanked me.
"Four days later, by asking for me to resign, he made it clear he did not believe in his declaration. These tactics are not worthy of the company and its stakeholders and I will not work under such a chairman."
This week Mr Merriman declined to comment on the resignation, although admitted that Mr Modiano had offered to resign on two other occasions "in the heat of the moment".
As to whether the board would seek to make a casual appointment to the vacancy, Mr Merriman said that was a decision which would be up to the board.
Reactions to Mr Modiano's resignation and his letter were mixed.
Australian Wool Growers Association chairman Martin Oppenheimer said he was disappointed to see Mr Modiano go.
Mr Oppenheimer said Mr Modiano was about re-engaging consumers.
"The difficulty for wool is that we are trying to shift the demand for wool with the same things and with the same people," Mr Oppenheimer said.
"We all need to be under the blowtorch, including the staff," he said.
WoolProducers president Don Hamblin said he was disappointed with the turmoil at board level, but he said WoolProducers' primary concern was to ensure growers got value for their levies.
