Resignation threat used to avoid a disciplinary, can private action be taken by a councillor.

Question

Our parish clerk has resigned to avoid the possibility of a disciplinary being raised , can private action be taken by a councillor  once employment has ceased?

Answer 1

Ours has done the same thing, to stop the risk to public money being spent, you may just need to draw a line underneath it and work with the new Clerk to make sure the procedures are done correctly.

Comments

Thank you - however it would be the individual councillor funding any litigation not the PC.

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Clearly not an uncommon occurrence if I add my example to the mix as well.

Draw a line under it, publicise what you can, move on and let results speak for themself.

Answer 2

Why would anybody wish to do this?

Comments

So unacceptable behaviour is recognised and this individual cannot continue moving from job to job destroying Cllrs & others.  I recognise that I'm stronger than many and after suffering almost 4 years of abuse intend to make a stand against it. Not just for myself but others, inc residents etc.

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If you seek to harm the individual's reputation, you may find yourself on the receiving end of litigation. Once no longer in your Council's employment, this individual is free to seek alternative employment wherever and however they wish. It is up to any potential employer to determine their suitability for the role applied for.

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It sounds a bit like a personal vendetta to me. They've resigned, you have no control over what they do now. And nor should you have.

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Well done Elizabeth - good for you.

Answer 3

What is it you hope to achieve by this action?

Comments

As above, this individual needs to be held accountable for their actions. So many loopholes and biggest one is the protection offered by " resignation" Yes, I shall be writing a book along the lines of  " 4 years of hell -The life of PCllr  not afraid to speak out  ".

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I'd suggest you take urgent advice with regard to employment law. If you continue this, you'll be in court for defamation/slander.

Answer 4

A fellow Cllr in nearby village was subjected to highly defamatory comments as a pretty disastrous chapter for the council employing someone of questionable character (how they were ever employed is whole separate thread) closed. The Cllr did look at a range of options as an individual and did seek professional legal independent advice. They concluded in the end that whilst he could his time and money was better served fixing the damage caused by the individual. The Council has since gone from strength to strength with many rallying round them to support them. The former member of staffs reputation in the village is such that I gather his house has recently gone up for sale! Seeing positive progress and actual functioning Council follow his departure dispels many of untruths he said and basically left people to conclude he was the problem (which he was). The public don't respond well to "he said she said" type posts generally. They respond far better to tangible action. Id personally concentrate on that whilst in office.

Comments

Jeez!  I thought you were writing about me for a minute then!

Answer 5

Interesting suite of responses so far but not much of any actual value.  

Your question is based upon a somewhat flawed premise - "...can private action be taken by a councillor  once employment has ceased?"

You are mixing apples, bananas and oranges there.

If there is an issue of defamation between 2 individuals it is a matter for those 2 individuals.

If the defendant is an employee (at the time of the alleged defamation) and the defamatory action was in the process of their duty / work, then there may be a corporate liability.  That's why PCs have insurance.

Your question is flawed because the use of the 'Cllr' descriptor infers that they may be acting in an official, rather than a private, capacity.

So, a Cllr, would not seek a defamation claim but a private individual might.  That individual would have to decide if they were going to progress a corporate claim against the PC or an individual claim against the former employee.

Tricky, but either way, you'd do well to familiarise yourself with the pre-action protocols (https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/pdf/protocols/prot_def.pdf) as a first step, then seek professional legal advice, and then take a long hard think about the commonly applied mantra for such circumstances - the courts are full of righteous, but broke men.  (I say men because it is usually men that suffer from the ego which requires them to progress a course of action with little chance of actual success regardless of their determination, often based upon strongly held principles, but even a slim chance of satisfaction is likely to leave them completely pot-less.)

I absolutely sympathise with the circumstance you describe having experienced very similar and with the knowledge that the miscreant employee that imposed their adverse influence in this PC had done EXACTLY the same in her previous employ and so yes, the principle of moving from PC to PC almost without accountability is a very real world situation which is exacerbated by poorly understood and inappropriately applied termination contracts with confidentiality clause.