College principal reveals why lecturer was sacked ahead of strike ballot

ACOLLEGE principal has intervened in a strike dispute by claiming that the dismissed employee at the centre of the row misled colleagues into believing he was a doctor.

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) last week balloted teaching staff at Edinburgh College for industrial action after a lecturer was fired.

However, in an unprecedented move, principal Annette Bruton emailed staff to give her version of why the unnamed ex-employee had been sacked.

Larry Flanagan, the EIS general secretary, responded by saying he was “dismayed” the principal had shared information that is “strictly confidential”.

Union representatives have been at loggerheads with management over a colleague’s dismissal and EIS members were issued with ballot papers on Thursday about industrial action, up to and including a strike.

The details of the sacking were not widely known until last week, at which point Bruton sent an “all staff” email outlining what she claimed was the background to the case.

On Tuesday, two days before ballot papers were sent, she wrote: “I am taking the extremely unusual step of sharing with you information relating to the dismissal of a former colleague.”

Bruton wrote that she “absolutely” backed the right of staff to take industrial action, but wrote that “you should be aware of the facts so you can make an informed decision”.

The principal claimed the reasons for dismissing the former lecturer amounted to “gross misconduct” and included: “Misleading colleagues into believing that he was or had been a doctor.”

She also claimed he had been “examining some colleagues in the knowledge that he had created a false belief, that he was or had been a doctor”.

Flanagan criticised the principal’s intervention: “The EIS is holding a statutory ballot for industrial action over the dismissal of an EIS member from Edinburgh College. The EIS believes this dismissal was unfair, and followed on from a deeply flawed disciplinary process.

“The EIS remains ready and willing to enter into constructive discussions with the college. However, we are dismayed to hear that the principal has seen fit to share, via an email to all staff information that we regard as strictly confidential.”

A spokesperson for Edinburgh College declined to comment.