Airport manager wins unfair dismissal case
23.10.08
A Cardiff Airport manager who was sacked weeks after being told her job was safe won her appeal for unfair dismissal yesterday, the Western Mail reports. Lesley Evans, 54, from Barry, was commercial operations manager at the airport until her dismissal in June.
An employment tribunal in Cardiff heard how on March 18 Mrs Evans was told she would be getting more work. Her boss, Steve Hodgetts, said she was going to be promoted to business development and commercial director and as a result would get some of his duties.
Mrs Evans told the tribunal: ‘Steve Hodgetts told me my job was assured and that I would be taking on more work. I was glad to hear my job was safe and happy to take on more.’ But within weeks she was called to a meeting and told her job had ‘disappeared’ and she was no longer an essential part of the business.
The airport’s managing director Patrick Duffy defended the decision to make her redundant and rejected her appeal, saying her role was a luxurious one that was not needed. Mr Duffy, who joined Cardiff Airport in February, said: ‘My job was to join the company and challenge the status quo.’
The tribunal was told the conversation saying Mrs Evans’ job was safe was a failure of management and the news of her redundancy came as a bolt out of the blue with no information given to her so she could understand why she had been selected for redundancy. She was awarded compensation of £4,501.
After the hearing Mrs Evans told the newspaper that she was relieved to have come to the end of the issue. She added: ‘Before all this I had an excellent working relationship with Steve Hodgetts and lots of the airport staff. It was never about the money but I am just very relieved to have won.’
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