Tribunal is told Telford woman lost job over letter given to animal charity
A woman was sacked from a Telford-based animal charity for telling an ex-colleague about an anonymous letter that was "disparaging and derogatory" about her boss and the organisation, a tribunal heard.
Jill Perkins, a former senior assistant to the director general's office at the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), emailed her former co-worker Sally Wright to tell her about the "wonderfully truthful" anonymous letter.
It included claims of bullying and harassment and alleged that morale was low among staff at the organisation – as well as personally criticising director general Jan McLoughlin, the hearing was told.
Mrs Perkins, 66, said in the message she would tell Ms Wright about the letter – but told an employment tribunal at Telford Magistrates Court yesterday she never followed through with the promise and did not disclose its contents to anyone.
The hearing heard she was suspended from the Priorslee-based charity in October 2013 after HR bosses examined her emails. She was dismissed in July last year following an investigation.
Bosses at the charity said her reaction to the letter – and attitude to the charity and her job in other emails – represented a breach of trust and confidence.
But Mrs Perkins, from Randlay, is suing for unfair dismissal. Mr Marcus Difelice, solicitor for the charity, asked Mrs Perkins: "The contents (of the letter) were very disparaging about the director general and about the PDSA, weren't they?"
"Yes," replied Mrs Perkins, before confirming she agreed with the opinions expressed in the letter and adding: "I thought the truth had been spoken about the culture within the charity."
The tribunal is expected to be concluded today.
