Name-row council’s £78k bigotry abuse payouts to workers
Local authority’s compo to settle tribunal cases
A local authority at the centre of a row over allegedly sectarian street names paid former staff compensation after they complained about religious bigotry.
Leaders at East Dunbartonshire Council have been urged by campaigners to remove “Taig” from two streets amid claims it is a slur against Catholics.
It has emerged that numerous workers within the council secured £ 78,000 in payouts to settle employment tribunal cases since 2016.
The figure was obtained under freedom of information laws.
Employees claimed they were targeted with abuse by manager William Hendry, 50, who ran the Hilton depot inn Bishopbriggs.
The GMB unionn said 15 of its membersrs were subjected to anti- Catholichl barbsbb as well as comments about their sexuality and disabilities.
Hendry was convicted of religious bigotry at Airdrie Sheriff Court in December 2013 after making a sectarian remark while he was employed at North Lanarkshire Council.
He told a colleague the depot would be more efficient if it did not employ Catholics. He also said Irish immigrants should go back to Ireland during a row about football.
Hendry kept his job and landed a new role with East Dunbartonshire Council, where in 2018 staff also raised concerns about his conduct.
An unspecified number of staff were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements before receiving their money after leaving their posts and taking their case to a tribunal panel. The move meant they were gagged from speaking publicly about their experiences at work.
It comes as East Dunbartonshire Council has been urged by equal rights group Call it Out to change the names of Taig Road and Taig Gardens in Waterside, a village near Kirkintilloch.
The Oxford Dictionary lists the word as a “derogatory term for a Catholic or Irish nationalist”.
Officials say the streets were named after councillor Nathaniel Taig in 1946. Call It Out, a campaign group against anti- Catholic bigotry and anti- Irish r a c i sm, has vovowed to take its cocomplaint to the ScoScottish Government if ththe council doesn’t actact.
A source said: “The dradrama with Hendry lefleftt a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. People were surprised he got a job after his previous conviction.
“Staff were soon complaining about the comments he was making, which were remarkably similar to the ones that got him into trouble at court.”
GMB Scotland said: “Discrimination and hate of any kind are an abhorrence and there is no place for it in work and society. What these sums reveal, though, is there’s also an economic consequence to the taxpayer when councils don’tconfront it as they should.”
Ann Davie, of East Dunbartonshire Council, said: “We condemn racism and sectarianism in all its forms. We have long-standing policies and procedures supporting equal ity and diversity throughout East Dunbartonshire.”
Hendry is understood to still be employed by East Dunbartonshire Council.