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John Meyer |
Ex parking boss called back to defend sacking
Attendants fought in front of public
CAMDEN Council’s troubled parking department is facing allegations of bullying, mismanagement and fighting among staff.
John Meyer – the former head of parking at the Town Hall, who suddenly quit his interim role at Christmas, months before he was expected to – was called to an employment tribunal hearing on Tuesday to explain why he ordered Michael McDonald, an attendant at the Bloomsbury Square Care Park, to be sacked.
Mr Meyer said the employee had been caught out by CCTV cameras sleeping on the job and that he had later investigated reports of a fight between Mr McDonald and a colleague.
Mr McDonald, 43, who worked at the car park for 11 years, has brought a case against Camden Council for unfair dismissal at the tribunal service at Victory House in Holborn. The father-of-two was suspended last April by the then parking chief Rudy Bright and was dismissed in August following a hearing chaired by Mr Meyer.
Mr McDonald told the hearing he had been “victimised and bullied out of his job” by staff. His managers, he claimed, ignored repeated complaints about working conditions.
Mr McDonald added: “I tried again and again to express problems with other members of staff ganging up [on me]. If you complain and nothing happens then you have to defend yourself.”
Racial tensions and a divisive two-tiered pay system had further soured relationships, he said, leading to a fight with a colleague in the car park’s reception room in full view of customers. Mr McDonald claimed he had acted in self-defence during the row.
The tribunal is the latest event in a turbulent two years for the parking department, which is the subject of an internal council inquiry into why it isn’t raising enough money through fines.
Following his departure, the council said Mr Meyer had made “errors of judgment” in the post but refused to elaborate.
Mr McDonald accused Mr Meyer at the tribunal of lacking the qualifications needed to make the decision to sack him.
“You did not review the interview notes to find out what the background was before you made your decision. I brought these issues to [your] attention and you pushed them to one side,” he told Mr Meyer.
Mr Meyer told the panel: “The commercial world is quite different so it was necessary for me to be given an intensive course in council disciplinary proceedings. The CCTV evidence shows Mr McDonald clearly asleep on duty in full view of members of the public. In my view that alone would have been grounds for dismissal.”
Mr Meyer said: “Mr McDonald’s race was nothing to do with my decision.”
An email from Mr Meyer to Camden’s case investigator Freddy Mohammed about “the car park pugilists” suggested Mr McDonald’s actions were being considered as a possible sacking offence.
Mr McDonald told the panel: “We were isolated from the rest of the council.
“One hand didn’t know what the other hand was doing. I would try to follow the rule book and challenge them on what I thought was wrong. I think this upset the managers.”
The hearing continues. |
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