The former boss of the AA received a letter from the breakdown recovery service enclosing a 1p coin in return for his shares after his dismissal for gross misconduct, a hearing heard this week. 

Robert Mackenzie is suing the solicitors he retained against the AA, alleging the law firm was negligent in allowing him to press ahead with his conspiracy claim that the company wanted him out.

Mackenzie’s case against Rosenblatt Solicitors, now Rosenblatt Ltd, began on Monday at the High Court. Rosenblatt denies negligence. 

The former executive chairman and CEO of the AA was removed from his role after a company away-day ended with a fight between Mackenzie and another AA executive.

Though Mackenzie, who has suffered with mental health problems since, tried to resign due to ill-health, the AA board refused and dismissed him in August 2017 for gross misconduct.

As a result, he lost his MVP share entitlement, which Mackenzie believes to be worth up to £220m, and AA sought to recover the bonus of around £1.2m he had been paid.

The hearing heard that AA wrote to Mackenzie in March 2018, agreeing to pay him one penny in return for him transferring his company shares. As well as the offer, the company’s letter “included or [had] cellotaped to it a one penny coin”.

Giving evidence, Peter Mackenzie, Mackenzie’s son who oversaw much of the correspondence for his father due to Mackenzie’s ill health, agreed he felt the correspondence of the 1p offer letter was ‘bullying and aggressive’.

Of the letter he added: 'This was consistent with the behaviour we had seen from the AA all the way along. We felt we were being beaten into submission and we needed to move forward.

'At the time, we thought we had a strong claim against the AA.'

The hearing is the latest in a long legal battle between Mackenzie and the AA which reached the Court of Appeal in July 2022.

Mackenzie did not take out BTE or ATE insurance in relation to the case against the AA.

The hearing continues.