A whistleblower who accused university sports centre staff of
corruption and fraud has won legal claims against her former employers.
Sports manager Fiona Roberts accused
Staffordshire University staff of a string of wrongdoings costing thousands of pounds.
She claimed that:
- Staff pocketed money from deleted sports bookings
- Staff took equipment to moonlight as fitness coaches
- 10p coins were going missing from lockers
- There were discrepancies with vending machine cash
- University equipment was sold on Facebook
Ms
Roberts told a previous Birmingham employment tribunal hearing that
there was a “culture of staff taking what they could and of being proud
of being able to steal money.”
The allegations were made as Ms
Roberts accused the university of unfair treatment which caused her to
resign, prompting a legal claim for constructive unfair dismissal. She
also claimed damages for breach of contract.
Ms Roberts, 47,
joined the university in 2000 and was sports manager both for the
university’s campus at Stafford and at the Sir Stanley Matthews
university sports campus at Stoke-on-Trent. In a witness statement
she said: “It came to my notice that sports equipment belonging to the
university was missing and I suspected two staff members whom I believed
were using the equipment to provide fitness coaching for their own
private gain.
“I made the management aware of the situation.”
The
tribunal was told in Ms Roberts’ statement that the bookings system was
allegedly abused by staff. Bookings were deleted and the money pocketed
by staff who were later suspended, she claimed.
But the
university opposed her legal claims, and accused her of failing to act
when “wrongdoing” issues were brought to her attention.
“She
should have known something was amiss when the sports centre income for
August and September in 2013 was £28,000 down against the budget,”
university bosses said.
Ms Roberts denied that she had not responded.
“There
was a knee jerk reaction to suspend me without considering my long
service and the fact that I brought wrongdoings to the attention of the
management,” she said.
And last week tribunal judge Mr David
Dimbylow agreed, ruling that her claims for constructive unfair
dismissal and damages were both well-founded and successful.
”I concluded that the claimant had undertaken no action which was culpable or blameworthy,” he said.
“She
did not cause, or contribute to, her losing her job and it would not be
just or equitable to reduce any award. We go on to state, contrary to
the respondent’s assertions, that there was no repudiatory conduct on
part of the claimant.”
Mr Dimbylow added that Ms Roberts’
suspension related to a need for a full and formal investigation into
the possible misuse of the booking system and serious allegations of
potential fraud and breach of professional responsibility.
“As we
understand it, two employees who were dismissed were involved in the
competing gym business and the misuse of cash,” said Mr Dimyblow.
A tribunal hearing to announce the amount of the award to be granted, did not take place. A tribunal spokesman said later: “It appears a settlement may have been reached in private prior to the hearing.”