Former Mela festival director awarded £67k compensation over dismissal
A former director of the Edinburgh Mela has won his claim of unfair dismissal and been awarded £67,000 in compensation.
Chris Purnell dramatically quit his role in charge of the Scottish capital’s multicultural festival in March 2016, citing a “total breakdown of trust”.
He alleged the Mela board was controlled by a small group with no regard for the opinions of other board members, advice of the staff or independent professional voices.
Mr P ur ne ll took the Mel a to an employment tribunal, which has now up held his claim of constructive dismissal. The tribunal heard how an independent review had criticised the Mela board’s “weak membership and poor performance” in 2010– the year before Mr Purnell arrived.
The tribunal said Mr Purnell’ s relationship with the Mel a chair, former Labour councillor Shami Khan and v i c e - c h air Foysol Choud - hury, began to deteriorate in October 2015 after Mr Khan decided to call a board meeting while Mr Purnell was on leave. Mr Purnell claimed he was subjected to increasingly “angry and aggressive” phone calls when he tried to persuade him to delay the meeting.
Mr Purnell also said he was accused of disrespecting and insulting board members, told he was exceeding his authority and excluded from meetings.
He claimed Mr Choudhur y told him he should“watch himself ” and “remember who pays his wages”. And he said Mr Choudhury also criticised his body language and told him “directors come and go” and that he should not be taking credit for the success of the Mela and “acting as if he was doing the board a favour”.
The tribunal said Mr Purnell had given his evidence “in a straightforward and measured way” and it was“entirely credible”.
It added :“In contrast, the manner in which Mr Khan and Mr Choudhury gave their evidence was often unsatisfactory. Both showed a reluctance to answer simple questions directly.”
The 2016 Mela was cancelled, but the festival went ahead in scaled-back form in 2017 and 2018.