February 12, 2011

Bullying at Stirling University

I worked at Stirling University for 13 years. I was bullied by my manager, Kathy McCabe. I asked her to stop, but the ill treatment continued, and I raised grievances against her. As a result I was dismissed. Stirling University claims to be committed to allowing employees and students to be able to work and study free from bullying, victimisation and discrimination. However, here I provide evidence of the extreme lengths that management takes to protect and support bullies.

Gerry McCormac became Stirling University's Principal in May 2010. He described the university as one of the most respected in the UK. He said his focus would be on providing leadership and "getting the best out of people".

In accordance with the university's grievance procedures, I wrote to Professor McCormac in September 2010 and sent copies of my letter to Alan Simpson, Chair of the University Court, and Dr James Naughtie, University Chancellor. I alerted them to the widespread corruption that exists within the university's senior management.

You might expect that someone who agreed to take up such a responsible position, and who accepts around a quarter of a million pounds a year to perform his duties, would be horrified to learn of this and would be eager to rid the university of corruption as a matter of priority. You might also expect that he would be eager to speak with me to obtain as much information as possible in order for him to fully understand and deal with the very serious problem at Stirling University.

However, you would be wrong. Professor McCormac decided that it would be best to sweep the issue under the carpet.

It is ironic that a university Cleaner earning around £15,000 a year would probably be sacked for sweeping dirt under the carpet. Cleaners are expected to work with integrity; Principals and senior management are not.

Corrupt or what? I see no evidence to suggest that Gerry is anything but corrupt.

Shame on you, Gerry!

Oh dear! Hot off the press; Gerry has been appointed by Education Secretary, Mike Russell to head up a review of teachers' pay and conditions. Labour and Liberal Democrats are worried that the review may be a sham, and that this is just a cost cutting exercise. With Gerry at the helm, I believe they have good reason to be worried.

Gerry is aware that Mark Toole had decided that I should be dismissed because he couldn't deal properly with my grievance against Kathy McCabe's bullying behaviour. It is likely that Kathy's husband, Liam, being the Finance Director was also a factor. I had made protected disclosures about the university's failure to comply with its legal obligations, so the heat was on for the Uni. Mark's lack of integrity caused him to call in well known 'arse licker', Graham Millar, to carry out a sham investigation which was to produce a report recommending a disciplinary be held. Mark would have told Graham not to allow the facts to get in the way of the required report.

Despite all of the evidence that made it obvious I was innocent, Mark dismissed me, and other corrupt directors upheld his decision.

Immediately prior to this, Mark had arranged for Deputy Secretary, Eileen Schofield to carry out a sham investigation relating to my allegations that I had been bullied by my manager, Kathy McCabe, for several years, including bullying that took place in Mark's presence. Amazingly, despite all of the evidence, Eileen produced a report stating that I had not been bullied, but that I had bullied my manager. At appeal, University Secretary, Kevin Clarke upheld her incredible decision.

Gerry knew about all of this when he shrugged off my complaints of corruption. Interestingly, he offered no evidence to refute my claims that senior management is corrupt.

Not satisfied with being paid £250,000 a year and ruining an innocent man's career, Gerry will be hoping to be recommended for inclusion in the honours list for carrying out this review. In my opinion, he should be in jail.

Gerry has a wife and three sons. I suppose he is 'lucky' not to have a conscience.

I suppose it's unfortunate from Gerry's and other corrupt people's point of view, that we now have the internet. The world is becoming more transparent. Corrupt dinosaurs, like Gerry, will hopefully become a feature of the past.

My parents were born more than 70 years before most people had even heard of the internet, but that didn't stop them from raising me to be honest, hard working and ethical. Gerry is the type of person they warned me not to mix with.

I feel sorry for his sons who have been deprived of a normal non corrupt life in which they could achieve their goals based on their own genuine desires and honest abilities.

From: http://bullyingatstirlinguniversity.blogspot.com

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Speak out

You know it makes sense.

Just come back from the film 'Insider job'

We are not alone in speaking out.

Aphra Behn

Anonymous said...

Corruption of this nature can have tragic consequences!

Anonymous said...

This sort of thing makes me sick. When the soulless have the salary, the big surburban house, spouse and children. They don't deserve it, none of it. Meanwhile their targets tend to end up on the scrapheap, long term or permanently unemployed, often blackballed, losing many valuale years of their life (for women, childbearing years) and too financially and professionally messed up to ever hope for the security that the corrupt take for granted - a spouse, family or nice house. Who is going to want an unemployed, financially insecure, traumatised (and now overweight due to it) thirty-something woman whose body clock is ticking more loudly than Big Ben? Horrible. It seems to me that the only way to get on in life is to sell ones soul to the devil. Refusing to do so lands one on the scrapheap, condemned to a life of bad health, state handouts and marginalisation. It's only the hope of karma and universal divine justice that keeps me from committing multiple homicide!