News

Astonbrook staff to sue for unfair dismissal 1

Finance | Tania Mason | 4 Jun 2008

The 15 Astonbrook Housing Association staff sacked by the association’s interim managers Baker Tilly last week are likely to instigate unfair dismissal proceedings, their union representative has confirmed.

And solicitors appointed by the union to take up the case on their behalf will also be asked to investigate claims of discrimination, as the union understands that all of those sacked were Somalian.

At least 15 staff were issued with seemingly standard dismissal letters dated 20 May, accusing them of engaging in “activities that constitute gross misconduct”, namely “misappropriation of Astonbrook’s money”.

‘Very strange circumstances’

According to Rick Tudor, regional officer for Unison, none of those sacked have been presented with any evidence of their alleged misdemeanors; nor were they given any opportunity to deny their guilt.

“They have all been dismissed in what can only be described as very strange circumstances. These allegations have never been put to the staff, none of them have gone through any kind of formal process,” Tudor told Charity News Alert. “Nobody knows what the allegations are. All of them are fairly mystified.”

He added that there did not appear to be any connection between the dismissed workers, except that all were Somalian, and that most of them had frontline or support service jobs where they would have had little opportunity to steal from the charity. Many of them had had long careers there.

One driver did not receive his dismissal letter until the 22nd as he was working away from home, and so he continued to work for two extra days unaware he had been fired. Other letters were wrongly addressed.

The dismissal letter went out two working days after the interim managers appointed by the Charity Commission handed an £11m contract to provide housing to asylum seekers, back to the Home Office.

Claims of racial discrimination

Events took an even worse turn for those dismissed this week, said Tudor – their pay has not gone into their accounts.

“They should be entitled to payments up until 20 May at least, and some would have been owed overtime or outstanding leave.

“The other fact they have raised with us is that they are all Somalian...on the face of it, it looks to be a case of discrimination.”

According to one of the dismissed employees, Abdi Said, an allocations and IT officer at the charity, the staff did not learn that the contract was to be handed back to the Home Office from the interim managers, but from the Refugee Council or the local authority.

Pickets outside Baker Tilly offices

After hearing about this, staff picketed outside Baker Tilly’s Birmingham offices on Wednesday 14 May and outside the local Home Office headquarters on Friday 16 May. After that, Baker Tilly managers agreed to meet with staff and a meeting was held with around 100 staff on Monday 19 May.

Following that meeting, four employees were elected to meet with the managers the next day to convey how strongly staff felt about keeping the contract and saving the charity from closure. Said was one of those four representatives. The next day, he received one of the 15 dismissal letters.

“So the same day that we were pleading with them to save this charity, they were writing letters to fire us,” he said.

Tudor said that “quite a few” of the people dismissed appeared to be Unison members, so the union was now appointing solicitors to act on their behalf in pursuing tribunal claims and seeking compensation. But there is one inherent problem, he said: “If Astonbrook ceases to exist and yet the interim managers have dismissed these people on behalf of Astonbrook, who do we sue?"

What is doubly frustrating, he said, is the fact that Baker Tilly have refused to return calls from the union or to engage in any discussion about the situation.

Ongoing police investigation

Baker Tilly also declined to answer questions from Charity News Alert, preferring to stick by its original statement issued last week. This said: “We reject any suggestion undermining our undertaking as interim managers of Astonbrook which has been a challenging and complex project involving an ongoing fraud investigation.

“The fees and costs involved, which have been approved by our appointers the Charity Commission, have not in any way impacted upon services to the beneficiaries of the charity who have been our priority.

“Following the completion of a serious fraud investigation carried out by forensic accountants at Baker Tilly, 15 staff have been dismissed from Astonbrook Housing Association. The police investigation is ongoing so we are not in a position to discuss specific fraud issues further.

“This announcement coincides with an acknowledgement by the Home Office of a breach in its funding rules which has led to interim managers, Baker Tilly, agreeing to transition the NASS contracts to new providers.

“The interim managers have been in frequent communication with stakeholders and remaining staff, the majority of whom should be transferred to the new provider. It is the main priority of both ourselves and the Home Office that those accommodated by the service will not be adversely impacted during this transition.”

Tweet

Who's Who: Tania Mason