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Sacked Vauxhall driver alleges corruption
Page 6
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A TRUCK DRIVER who lifted the lid on alleged theft and corruption at Vauxhall Motors has told an Employment Tribunal that he was sacked as part of a management conspiracy. Paul Kirkham was fired after team leader Paul Deponeo accused him of assault and of threatening to burn down his house in September 2003. Kirkham, who is seeking more than £250,000 in damages, claims the allegations came as a result of a whistle-blowing letter sent to company chiefs. His anonymous letter implicated Deponeo in the theft of hundreds of thousands of poundsworth of tyres from Vauxhall Motors It also accused other managers of allowing fictitious overtime claims, sleeping on the job and fraudulently claiming too much lunch allowance. Kirkham denied the assault charge and was found not guilty at Liverpool Crown Court ( CM 7 October 2004).
Now he is claiming he was wrongfully fired for disclosing evidence of wrongdoing at the factory where he worked for 19 years Allan Gardiner, who chaired the disciplinary hearing and sacked Kirkham, admitted the possibility of a set-up was never considered.
Barrister David Flood, representing Kirkham,accusedGardiner of listening to factory gossip about Kirkham rather than conducting a full investigation into the assault. The hearing continues.