Tampin tribunal closes amid claims of ‘vendettas’ and ‘red herrings’

Lawyers delivered six hours of closing statements yesterday at an industrial tribunal hearing the claim for unfair dismissal filed by Michael Tampin against his former employer, the Gibraltar General and Clerical Association.

Charles Gomez, Mr Tampin’s lawyer, said the union’s decision to lay off its former General Secretary had been an “unmitigated disaster”.

He suggested committee members had waged “a vendetta” against Mr Tampin that had led to increased expense for the public purse.

“The taxpayer is a milk cow [for them],” he said, prompting an intervention from tribunal chairman Mark Isola, QC, who urged restraint.

Sir Peter Caruana, QC, representing the GGCA, said union committee members had been in their right to restructure the association and take on duties once performed by Mr Tampin.

He said the hearing had been littered with “red herrings” but that the decision to make Mr Tampin redundant in 2013 had been sound in law.

Sir Peter told the tribunal that Mr Gomez had painted the committee as “self-serving, lazy civil servants” but that this was not the case.

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