Two Dundee leisure chiefs have been suspended from their jobs – months after they made allegations against their employer of unfair treatment along with racist and sexist behaviour.
Billy Gartley and Graham Wark have been told to stay at home on full pay by Leisure and Culture Dundee (L&CD) since April.
Mr Gartley is the head of cultural services while Mr Wark works as head of leisure and sport services at the council arm’s-length body – which runs venues like the Olympia, The McManus and the Regional Performance Centre for Sport.
Proposed management restructure
The two men have lodged grievances against L&CD, including concerns over a proposed management restructure, claims that trustees made sexist and racist comments, and allegations of intimidation and harassment of staff within the organisation.
Mr Gartley and Mr Wark, paid £67,000 a year each, first raised concerns with Greg Colgan, the chief executive of Dundee City Council – which funds L&CD – in April 2021.
This detailed 24 points of grievance about the proposed management restructure.
Mr Colgan deferred the complaint to L&CD managing director Judy Dobbie.
The two men then submitted a formal grievance to the L&CD board of trustees in August last year, telling chair Moira Methven and vice-chair Will Dawson they felt their employment rights had been “breached” by the planned restructure, which ultimately never went ahead.
Further correspondence, sent in the months since, claims investigations in to their grievances have not progressed.
Other claims include:
- Racist and sexist comments allegedly being made by Mr Dawson – who is a councillor for Dundee’s East End ward – and former chair Sinclair Aitken. They claim the trustees “made disparaging comments about (an) auditor’s behaviour based on her birthplace and gender”. It is understood these allegations have not been backed up with any written evidence
- “Harassment” and a “failure to tackle a culture of bullying” by Ms Dobbie
- An allegation of bullying against trustee Stuart Cross, and claims his behaviour fell “below standards expected for a holder of public office”
- Lack of audit trails and conflicts of interest in the organisation’s work
- Trustees making property decisions without properly considering the implications, including using the Caird Hall as a vaccine centre during the Covid-19 pandemic
‘Breakdown in relations’ with Leisure and Culture Dundee bosses
Then in November this year, Mr Gartley and Mr Wark wrote to Councillor Kevin Keenan – chair of Dundee City Council’s scrutiny committee – to highlight all the allegations made and ask that they be fully investigated.
The pair were initially asked to take gardening leave last summer, before being formally suspended in April this year.
They were told they were being relieved of their day-to-day duties while an investigation took place “relating to a perceived breakdown in relations between you and the organisation, specifically the managing director (Ms Dobbie) and chair of the board (Ms Methven)”.
It added that they were expected to co-operate with the investigation and that their suspensions would last “no longer than is necessary”.
The men have been suspended – and paid nearly £200,000 – while L&CD is dealing with the ongoing closure of the Olympia for more than £6 million of repairs less than nine years after it opened.
There is no suggestion that the suspensions are linked to the issues with the leisure centre.
A union representative for Mr Gartley and Mr Wark claims the suspensions are not justified.
Union says workers ‘have unblemished records’
Jim Cunningham of GMB said: “Billy Gartley and Graham Wark are Leisure and Culture Dundee’s most senior employees.
“They had, in the public interest, raised concerns about the behaviour and conduct of the trustees of the L&CD board with the relevant whistleblowing authorities.
“They also raised those whistleblowing concerns with the office bearers of L&CD and Dundee City Council.
“Subsequently Billy and Graham were excluded from work for a number of months on what was described to them as gardening leave pending an investigation into their allegations.
“They were then suspended despite no substantive allegations whatsoever being made against them.
“Billy and Graham are conscientious and long-serving public servants with enviable successes throughout their careers and unblemished records.
“They have upheld their duties as holders of public office and called out wrongdoing when they came across it.
“They are whistleblowers who made protected disclosures in good faith.”
Responses to allegations
When the specific claims were put to them by The Courier about their alleged conduct, Ms Dobbie, Ms Methven, Mr Dawson, Mr Aitken and Mr Cross all declined to comment.
A spokesperson for L&CD said: “We cannot comment on individual personnel matters.”
Mr Keenan confirmed he had received a letter from the men in his role as scrutiny committee chair.
Dundee City Council has not responded to a request for comment.
