Wrongly dismissed council worker gets payout
Mr Gormley had been with City of York Council for 23 years before his dismissal in March 2023
- Published
A mental health practitioner who was found to have been wrongfully dismissed by his employers has received around £60,000 in compensation.
Aiden Gormley was sacked by City of York Council in 2023 after the local authority concluded he had made sexist comments and "unwelcome innuendos" at work.
But an employment tribunal found the council's investigation was "inadequate and unreasonable".
The council said it could not comment on individual cases.
'Flawed' investigation
The tribunal judge said the council's probe into a complaint made by a junior colleague of Mr Gormley was "flawed".
Mr Gormley, who had worked for the council for 23 years, was initially suspended by the authority in October 2022, before being dismissed five months later.
In the council's conclusion following its investigation, it was said he had been accused of engaging "in behaviour including unwanted innuendo and unwelcome jokes or comments that are sexist".
The council concluded that "any reasonable person would realise" the practitioner's behaviour was "likely to offend".
But the tribunal judge said that across the investigation, testimony from colleagues about Mr Gormley's behaviour had been "vague".
In a written ruling on the case, they said: "The statements about innuendos and sexist remarks were lacking in specificity and largely generic.
"There were no follow-up questions to ask what innuendo or unwelcome jokes or comments had actually been made and in what circumstances they had been made."
It was said that Mr Gormley had a clean disciplinary record across his career with the council, which started in 2000.
The tribunal concluded that the council's finding of gross misconduct "was not formed on reasonable grounds after a reasonable investigation".
A council spokesperson said: "City of York Council aspires to be an employer of choice and is committed to treating all its employees with dignity and respect.
"It would be inappropriate to comment on any individual case."
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