A tribunal judge has delivered a damning verdict on the management of Inverness Leisure, despite dismissing a former employee’s claim that she was forced to resign.
Flora Carmichael said James Martin, the centre’s general manager, “abused his position” after he suspended Ruth Matthews over her alleged bullying of a colleague.
Miss Matthews, of Feddon Hill, Fortrose, claimed unfair constructive dismissal, alleging she was forced to resign as head of support services at the centre in Bught Lane in November, 2008.
Ms Carmichael rejected the claim, saying that Miss Matthews should have resigned soon after submitting a grievance about Mr Martin’s behaviour earlier that year.
She said: “Had the claimant resigned at the time of, or just after, submitting her grievance, she could have demonstrated that her resignation was in response to breaches of contract in his (Mr Martin’s) letters of April 14 and May 12, and that she did not delay in doing so.
“By November, the only circumstances in which she conceded she might have been prepared to consider a return was on condition that she received an acknowledgment from Mr Martin that, by suspending her, he had got things wrong, or better still, an apology.”
However, in her ruling, Ms Carmichael criticised Mr Martin’s handling of events, describing him as “investigator, prosecution and judge”.
Speaking yesterday, Miss Matthews, 60, claimed a “moral victory” because the tribunal had proved that the terms of her contract had been breached.
She said: “I put 15 years into the company, dedicating hours and hours of unpaid overtime. I pray that the company has learned a lesson and that they never ever subject anybody in the future to what I have gone through.”
Miss Matthews likened the management of Inverness Leisure to a “quiet dictatorship” and called for Mr Martin’s conduct to be investigated by the centre’s trustees.
A statement issued by Mr Martin yesterday said: “The company invested a great deal of time and resources in our attempts to resolve this matter, with both management and board members taking advice from our employment law advisers throughout.
“We therefore welcome the decision from employment judge Ms Carmichael and we are pleased that the matter has now been brought to a satisfactory close from our perspective.”
During a five-day tribunal at Inverness in October, Miss Matthews made a host of allegations against Inverness Leisure, including managers turning a blind eye to an employee taking 27 cigarette breaks in a single shift.