Sowerby Bridge News

Solicitor Describes Steph Booth's Redundancy 'A Sham'

The claims of legitimate redundancy procedure in the employment tribunal brought against Burnley charity Cool UK, have been described as a sham by solicitor Laura Prince. And evidence of the defendant’s key witness Gareth Binding, openly criticised at the Manchester hearing.

Steph Booth, the stepmother of Cherie Blair, brought the employment tribunal case against Cool UK after allegedly being made redundant in the wake of her ‘whistleblowing’ about major concerns with regard to the “chaotic and unprofessional” nature of the organisation.

Giving evidence at the tribunal, Mrs. Booth said: “Mr Binding put me through a sham redundancy exercise which was a mask for my sacking as a whistleblower,”. Mrs. Booth claims that staff difficulties as well as funding, safety and child-protection issues, were ignored by boss Gareth Binding, despite highlighting these serious concerns on many occasions.

Also giving evidence at the tribunal on behalf of the defendant was Gareth Binding, company CEO, who claimed to be concerned about the “poor attitude and rudeness” of Mrs. Booth, and to having received complaints about her from other members of staff. However, no evidence was presented to the tribunal that Mrs. Booth had ever been disciplined in any way by the company.

Simon Walker, another employee of Cool UK who gave evidence at the tribunal said of Mr. Binding that: “at staff meetings i.e. very publicly, people were asked if they had any ‘dirt’ on her [Steph Booth] by Mr Binding and if so he wanted to hear it. This happened on a number of occasions, directly from Mr. Binding himself and also through other senior members of staff.”

The tribunal board have now retired to consider their judgment.