Sacked former East Northants Council manager loses employment tribunal

A council’s former human resources manager who colleagues said was “destructive and warring” has failed in her bid to take legal action against the authority.

Aime Armstrong worked for East Northamptonshire Council (ENC) from November 2010 until she was sacked for gross misconduct in June 2019.

Mrs Armstrong took action against North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) after ENC was dissolved in 2021 and the new authority took on its responsibilities. She alleged unfair dismissal and that ENC had acted improperly towards her on other grounds, including her gender and pay. All grounds were dismissed at an employment tribunal.

She said she had raised concerns about the council with senior managers in 2017 and 2018, which included a complaint that she believed should have been on a higher pay scale. But the tribunal heard problems with Mrs Armstrong’s conduct flared up in early 2018, with members of staff alleging she was “dictatorial, restricting and frustrating rather than enabling” and passed on confidential information from colleagues onto others.

Some managers said they “preferred to receive HR advice in writing rather than in a verbal conversation because they did not trust what they were being told” by Mrs Armstrong. Other staff said chats seeking advice from her resulted in “conflict”.

She was suspended by ENC pending an investigation in April 2018. An independent investigator reported in September of that year and found she had committed a “serious breach of mutual trust” with staff.

After a period of sick leave, Mrs Armstrong was eventually sacked by the authority in June 2019. She appealed and alleged the finding was because she had asked for equal pay in line with another manager, bullying, harassment, whistleblowing and because a senior member of staff was biased against her.

An appeal hearing was heard in November 2019 and in February 2020 she was told it had again come to the conclusion she was guilty of gross misconduct and that her sacking was appropriate.

Employment Judge Robin Postle said the council’s investigation into Mrs Armstrong’s conduct had been “reasonable” and that the authority had “reasonable grounds” to suspect Mrs Armstrong of misconduct. The judge found the “only reason for [Mrs Armstrong’s] dismissal was her conduct”.

NNC’s leader Cllr Jason Smithers said: “[The council] was pleased that the claimant withdrew a number of allegations before the tribunal hearing and that the tribunal dismissed all allegations against it. The council will robustly defend legal claims which are brought against it where it believes that allegations are unfounded.”

The news of Ms Armstrong’s claim last year came weeks after NNC had to fork out £4m from reserves to settle an East Northamptonshire Council legal case against wronged publican Geoff Monks.

He was jailed in 2003 because he couldn't pay a fine after a flimsy prosecution over alleged food safety offences at his pub the Snooty Fox in Lowick.

His conviction was later overturned, but by then Dr Monks had been ruined by the catastrophic effect of ENC’s actions. He had lost his pubs, his house and suffered a heart attack.