Livingston FC could GO BUST if they are forced to pay a part time receptionist £7200

[ian1964 10,761]

LISA-MARIE Cairney has taken the club to an employment tribunal, but Livingston say that cannot afford to pay the sum if she is found to have been constructively dismissed.

 

THE financial mess at a Championship football club has been laid bare amid claims that they could go bust if they have to pay £7200 compensation to a receptionist.

 

Livingston FC are in such dire straits they can’t afford to pay the sum to minimum-wage part-timer Lisa-Marie Cairney, an employment tribunal heard.

 

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The 24-year-old – credited with “saving the club from financial ruin” – wants the compensation over claims she was constructively dismissed early last year.

 

A hearing this week has been told of a series of problems at the club, including:

 

● claims that the Championship club only had £4000 in the bank at one point.

 

● Lisa-Marie being left to organise rotas, commercial activities, and being trusted to count £20,000 in cash on match days.

 

● the club asking ex-chief executive Ged Nixon to pay a settlement to Lisa-Marie from legal costs he owes the club.

 

● The majority shareholder branding Nixon a “liar, thief and a conman”.

 

● Allegations the receptionist’s dispute with the club stemmed from a “catfight” with a fellow worker.

 

●And claims the club staff work without written contracts.

 

The Record understands the club had appealed to Lisa -Marie to accept a greatly reduced settlement, indicating anything else could ruin them.

 

A source said: “It doesn’t look good for Livingston and it is not even clear if they can afford to lose the tribunal. If Lisa-Marie wins and the club don’t pay up, she might go for a winding-up order.”

 

READ MORE: Livingston boss David Hopkin challenges his side to keep the pressure on Dumbarton in race to avoid the drop

 

At a hearing in Edinburgh in January, Lisa-Marie said her hours were drastically cut in 2014, effectively leaving her with no cash “to see me by”.

 

She worked at the club as a part-time receptionist for eight years. Livingston, however, deny she was sacked and claim she had begun to refuse shifts offered.

 

Revelations about Livi’s dire financial circumstances emerged during evidence.

 

Lisa-Marie’s solicitor Jim Warnock read out emails sent to him from club lawyer Stan Moffat.

 

Moffat wrote: “The club have no money so there would be no downside for them not to defend the case. A judgment would be worthless.

 

“I can recover an economic settlement for Lisa but that would be it.”

 

The tribunal also heard excerpts from a letter sent to Lisa-Marie by director Carolyn Sumner. She wrote: “The club are under extreme financial pressure and have to look at ways to structure and arrange the operation of the club to be as efficient as possible.”

 

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Questioning Lisa-Marie, Moffat told her she had been highly regarded by former majority shareholder Neil Rankine.

 

He said: “Mr Rankine credits you with helping to save the club from financial ruin and therefore collapse. It is partly down to you that the club still exists today.”

 

But Lisa-Marie said that when she called for shifts in January 2015, she was told there were none available.

 

The club’s lawyer also suggested that a contract she produced confirming her 20-hour-a-week job was forged by Nixon, who “left under a cloud”.

 

Nixon lost a civil action for £311,000 against Livingston last year and was ordered to pay the club £84,000 in costs.

 

READ MORE: Livingston FC fan blog: Time running out to avoid play-off lottery

 

Lisa-Marie denied that the contract was forged with Nixon’s help to “assist” her claim against Livingston. Nixon also gave evidence this week and insisted he drafted the contract for Lisa-Marie for a minimum of 20 hours a week.

 

In evidence, the banned director said a “third party” had asked him to pay the club’s settlement to the receptionist from money he owes the club.

 

He added: “The suggestion is I take some of that money and pay it directly to the claimant. It didn’t sit comfortably with me.”

 

He also rejected claims from Moffat that he helped Lisa-Marie draft a fake contract, insisting all staff working under him were issued contracts.

 

But Moffat pointed out that former team manager Gary Bollan had never been given a contract and a settlement had to be paid to him as a result. Nixon denied being involved in Bollan’s employment.

 

Evidence was also given by former majority shareholder Rankine, who said no workers except players and coaching staff were on written contracts at the club.

 

He also told the tribunal that he ousted Nixon when he discovered that there was only £4000 in the accounts – despite monthly bills of up to £200,000.

 

READ MORE: Ayrshire police officer and her husband defy court ruling to pay former employee

 

The businessman said he had to enlist volunteers to keep the club afloat and take cash from a trust to pay the monthly bills.

 

He added: “It was an emergency, and on reflection, we should have entered a third administration.”

 

When asked about Nixon’s claim that he issued Lisa-Marie a contract, Rankine rubbished the claim and described Nixon in court as a “liar, a thief and a conman”.

 

Rankine also revealed that Lisa-Marie became an important figure in the club, despite being on minimum wage. “We couldn’t have run the club without Lisa,” he said. “There was nothing she couldn’t do.”

 

But he added that he thought her fall-out with the club had come after a “catfight” with another member of staff.

 

READ MORE: Two police officers face perjury rap over claims they lied in court case against fellow cops

 

When Warnock pointed out to Rankine that a tribunal can issue an award to a claimant for non-issue of a contract, the businessman said: “I wasn’t a director.

 

“I am not good with paperwork.”

 

The tribunal also heard that Livingston were fined £5000 by the SFA over Rankine’s involvement with the club in 2015, due to his links with East Fife FC.

 

Giving evidence, Sumner said she couldn’t find a written contract in Lisa-Marie’s file.

 

Another receptionist, Cheryl Brock, told the tribunal she and Lisa-Marie had a fall-out in the run-up to her departure.

 

She also said that Lisa-Marie had refused shifts in late 2014.

 

A written judgment of the case is expected within eight weeks.

 

Read more at http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/livingston-fc-could-go-bust-7865651#DdqT5ssoQycoKrhA.99

[colinstein 294]

looks like it will be difficult for them to hold on to that youngster we're interested in