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‘HOUNDED' WOMAN WINS £46K SEX CASE
Irish Centre boss was the victim of a ‘wicked campaign’
THE first woman to take charge of the London Irish Centre – the most famous advisory service for Irish people in the country – has won thousands of pounds in damages after a tribunal ruled that she had been hounded out of her job by sexist male colleagues.
Margaret Murnane, 48, who worked as a director at the centre based in Camden Square, Camden Town, said last night that she had been the victim of a “wicked campaign”.
She broke years of tradition when she became the centre’s first female director in 2004. Every previous director in the centre’s 49-year history had been a male priest.
But the elation of getting the £40,000-a-year post and the role of revitalising the famous welfare charity soon turned sour in clashes with colleagues which an employment tribunal ruled on Thursday amounted to sexual discrimination.
She was sacked in May last year after her teenage son was found to have used office telephones to dial chatlines and his girlfriend in Colombia.
Investigators, however, found the incident should have been regarded as a “minor” matter and did not require her dismissal. Instead, they said, the sacking was the culmination of “vitriolic” treatment against her.
They ruled Ms Murnane must be paid £46,537 in compensation following a claim brought against the centre and its co-ordinator John Twomey, who was said to have been “intimidating” and “sarcastic” towads her.
Mr Twomey blamed Ms Murnane for their poor relations, insisting that she had been “frosty” towards him from her arrival at the centre.
The London Irish Centre is considered the most prestigious welfare service of its kind. It was set up in 1955 to provide help to Irish immigrants, offering aid with temporary housing and social services advice.
Ms Murnane, who lives in south London, said the case had caused her to suffered depression, adding that it was “glaringly obvious that they were not ready to have a woman in charge”.
She said: “I feel vindicated by the tribunal’s judgment and the wicked campaign of rumours and innuendo is now shown to have been actuated by malice. My good name is restored and those who took this course are shown in their true colours.”
Rachel Lester, her lawyer, who is regarded as an employment law specialist, went further by demanding that the centre faces a wider investigation.
“The tribunal’s decision is a damning indictment of unfair and sexually discriminatory practices within this well-known charity and the devastating impact these have had on my client’s career and livelihood,” she said. “There is an urgent need for the Charity Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission to investigate the London Irish Centre and to address the institutionalised sexism prevalent there to ensure that the kind of treatment meted out to my client is not repeated.”
Irish Centre director Peter Hammond said yesterday (Wednesday) that he was not aware of Ms Lester’s comments and that it would be wrong to regard the service as being riddled with sexism.
He said: “The word I’d use is disappointing. We can’t say we don’t accept the judgement because we have to accept it and the trustees will and have already begun looking through the details of the tribunal and the criticism. The trustees are taking it seriously. Sometimes you can appear discriminatory without realising it. If somebody says that you are treating them one way because it is because you are woman – then it is so, even if that was never the intention. When the trustees took the decision to go to dismissal they did so because they thought it was the right thing to do.”
Mr Hammond said that staff should be thanked for carrying on as normal while the dispute had run on, addng:: “This trauma has gone on for months and months and all through it the services that the centre provides has gone on to a high standard.” |
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