Ex-manager wins 'substantial' award

A former finance and contracts manager at a flagship public finance initiative hospital in Carlisle has won 'substantial' compensation after an employment tribunal ruled she was unfairly dismissed.

A four-day hearing heard that Jayne Holt was ousted to make way for a colleague. Miss Holt lost her£35,000 a year post last February after failing to be appointed deputy general manager.

Facilities management company Interserve's general manager at Cumberland Infirmary, Stephen Nightingale, created the new post as part of a management shakeup, saying the job would merge the duties of Miss Holt and fellow manager Peter Sleightholme.

Several months before the interviews, which Miss Holt said were a 'sham', she was suspended while her bosses investigated 'financial irregularities' which she herself had highlighted earlier. She was later cleared of any wrongdoing.

She became a subject for 'rampant gossip' during her suspension because Mr Nightingale had the lock on her office door changed.

While she was off work with stress, Mr Sleightholme 'systematically' took over her job, she said.

John Hawks, for Miss Holt, said:

'Mr Sleightholme was given the same job title, the same jobs to do, and shortly afterwards she was removed from her office for something she had already raised herself.

'This investigation was not an investigation at all, but a trumped up pretence for getting her out of the office.'

Miss Holt said fellow managers ignored her, while Mr Sleightholme, later appointed deputy general manager, took over her work and her staff. She believed there was a conspiracy to oust her to make way for him.

She originally accused Interserve of sex discrimination, but withdrew the claim after taking legal advice. The tribunal upheld two other claims - on unfair dismissal and equal pay.

And in a preliminary finding, the panel said that 'in the absence of any other explanation having been put forward for her less favourable treatment, we have to find that this was as a result of sex'.

Mr Hawks said her compensation included a sum recognising she was paid£4,000 a year less than Mr Sleightholme for the same work. Interserve rejected all her claims, saying Mr Sleightholme was the strongest candidate for the new post of deputy general manager.

At the hearing, Interserve revealed that its senior managers have BUPA membership as part of their pay and conditions. Former personnel manager Ian Sproat, now working for the company in Dudley, confirmed that he and other senior Interserve managers enjoyed such benefits.