Former Stedham and Iping council clerk awarded £7,000 over unfair dismissal

A parish council has apologised to its former long-serving clerk who walked out after clashing with the chairman.
Stedham Memorial Hall. Picture via Google StreetviewStedham Memorial Hall. Picture via Google Streetview
Stedham Memorial Hall. Picture via Google Streetview

Stedham with Iping Council, whose members have faced a barrage of personal attacks, has warned that any future intimidation of members will be referred to the police.

An employment tribunal has upheld a claim of constructive unfair dismissal brought by Jane Crawford against the council and awarded her a total of £7,158.

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Mrs Crawford was the council’s clerk and financial officer from 1999 but resigned in May, 2018, after a difficult relationship with Cllr Louise Petrie, who was elected chairman in 2017.

Mrs Petrie now lives in Australia but returned to give evidence at the three-day hearing in Havant in March. The tribunal’s judgment has just been published.

At the hearing Mrs Crawford outlined 12 matters which led to her resignation.

She said that Mrs Petrie told her to record all her work in six-minute slots and did not always accept what Mrs Crawford claimed.

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Over 12 months the chairman’s behaviour led to an unprecedented 1,220 e-mails between them, and when the clerk’s working hours and overtime arrangements were changed she told the clerk: "If this is something you would rather not do then you need to consider if this is the right role for you.”

Mrs Crawford told the tribunal that in April, 2018, Mrs Petrie wrote a strongly-worded 'embarrassing' letter on council headed notepaper to Sussex Wildlife Trust about a fire on Iping Commn, giving the impression that it was on behalf of the council, when, in fact, it was merely her own opinion.

The final straw, she said, came when the chairman insisted on her own agenda being used for a council meeting instead of the accepted arrangement of reaching an agreement with the clerk.

In her judgment, Employment Judge Catherine Rayner, described some of Mrs Petrie’s comments as 'rude and unnecessary' and her instructions regarding the agenda were “set in less than polite terms”.

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In a lengthy statement issued after receiving the judgment the parish council, which is now comprised entirely of new members, outlined the background to the dispute .

“The council understands the personal stress Mrs Crawford has experienced during this lengthy process and apologies (sic) for this,” it said.

Of the £7,158 awarded to Mrs Crawford £6,688 is covered by the council’s insurance, with £470 of back pay and holiday pay coming from council funds.

The statement said it was acknowledged that no single member may act representing the council 'without a pre-determined mandate backed by resolution'.

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It went on: “The council has been in receipt of correspondence from parishioners, some of which has been particularly unpleasant, being accused of ‘acting improperly’, ‘drawing this matter out’, ‘being secretive, inhumane, incompetent and malicious’, and that we ‘allowed the situation to develop’.”

The most recent chairman has resigned in the wake of a series of “inappropriate phone calls”, and the statement continued: “The council cannot stress enough the adverse impact of the negative and discourteous correspondence it has received.

“The council has agreed that any future correspondence of an intimidating nature will be forwarded through the proper channels including the police.”

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