Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Payout for former city pub manager
A FORMER Lochee pub manager has been awarded almost £5,500 after a judge ag reed he was unfa i rly sacked from his job.
Stephen Doogan, of Loons Road, had worked at Sandy’s Bar on Liff Road for nine years when he was dismissed in August last year.
Owners Karen and John Rollo – who bought the pub less than two months earlier – led a disciplinary hearing against Mr Doogan in relation to three allegations, then sacked him immediately after the hearing.
They claimed a liquor stock deficit of £5,687.76 in July last year was, by default, the responsibility of Mr Doogan as manager, that he had falsified the working hours of a cleaner and that poor level of cleanliness in the pub amounted to gross misconduct.
During the disciplinary hearing, Mr Doogan said he did not know anything about the stock shortfall, as did other members of staff.
The pub CCTV was found not to be working and no evidence of what had happened to the stock was presented.
There also was no evidence presented in relation to the cleaner’s hours to suggest she had not attended at the times she was paid for.
Mrs Rollo had claimed hygiene was so poor it presented a health hazard. She noted “sticky gunge” on the shelves, to the extent that when a box was placed on a shelf it would come apart when attempts were made to lift it off.
She also noted unclean floors, overflowing bins, dusty optics and pieces of rubbish lying about.
Mr Doogan had been spoken to on this issue before the disciplinary hearing and accepted some of the claims, the tribunal heard.
Staff admitted they had simply stopped cleaning duties as they were not enforced.
Employment judge Ian McFatridge accepted Mr and Mrs Rollo’s position regarding the cleanliness of the pub and that this amounted to gross misconduct by Mr Doogan.
However, he said that allegations relating to the stock shortage were “spurious” and without more evidence could not contribute to his dismissal.
He said there was no evidence linking the stock shortfall to Mr Doogan’s conduct.
He also said they had “no reasonable grounds” in reaching the conclusion they did in relation to the cleaner’s hours.
Neither Mr Doogan nor Mr and Mrs Rollo could be reached for comment.