A council will have to pay thousands of pounds after a former worker successfully sued for unfair dismissal.
Wayne Andrews had worked as a markets manager for Chorley Council for 21 years before being made redundant in August 2009. He claimed that his trade union activities – he was a UNISON representative for many of the workforce – had acted against him when the council undertook a restructuring process and he lost his job.
An employment tribunal found in his favour last year but the council refused to accept the verdict and tried to appeal. However a hearing in London has now found that the council has no grounds for appeal and will have to pay legal costs which have risen to around £19,000, compensation to Mr Andrews and interest, meaning the total bill will come to about £60,000.
Mr Andrews said that the council had acted vindictively and had tried to defend the indefensible in trying to appeal but Gary Hall, chief executive of the council, disagreed. He said that a set procedure was followed during the restructure and that everyone was treated fairly.
He added: “The council didn’t agree with this particular judgement and was satisfied that it was appropriate to appeal because the council wanted to reduce the cost of Mr Andrews’ claim to council taxpayers.”