Cllr Ken Bamber's 'Irish joke' proves costly for Medway Council
Comments |
It must be one of the oldest
jokes in history, and it took two years to get to the
punchline.
It began in December 2007, when Cllr
Ken Bamber (Con) told an 'Irish' joke during a break in a meeting
to discuss an appeal against dismissal.
Union official Brian Kelly took
offence at the use of the word "Paddy" and filed an official
complaint.
Now agreement has finally been reached
between the two and Medway Council has agreed to pay compensation
to Mr Kelly, who was its full-time Unison official.
Details are being kept private, but it
is thought the agreement was reached at the conciliation service,
ACAS, after it was referred there by the Employment Tribunal.
The council's standards committee,
which is designed to maintain high standards in public office,
discussed the matter in private.
Only those councillors on the
committee have been given details of the agreement. One of the
conditions bars either man from discussing the terms of the deal
with anyone else.
Cllr Bamber was chairing the
appeal hearing when the joke was told during a break in
proceedings.
The Irish-born union representative
said he considered "Paddy" was an offensive word and racist in
intent.
Cllr Bamber scribbled a note saying he
apologised, but it was alleged he would not sign it or say for what
he was apologising.
Mr Kelly formally complained and the
committee began investigating, but had to adjourn the case while it
went before the employment tribunal and legal experts. Neither man
was present to hear the committee discussions.
Mr Kelly, who left the council when
his job was made redundant during the period of the investigation,
was not contactable. He has received a discrimination payment from
Cllr Bamber as well as the council's payout.
The offending
joke:
"A man walked into a Dublin bar and
saw a friend sitting with an empy glass. 'Paddy can I buy you
another', he asked, to which Paddy replied - 'now what would I be
wanting with another empty glass?'"
Monday, February 08 2010
The KM Group does not moderate comments.
Please click here for our house rules.