A FORMER finance director at Prestwick Airport who claims he was sacked after exposing allegations of fraud, bribery and collusion at the site has lost his fight to keep his job.
Derek Banks claims he told bosses about potential corruption within the state-owned airport’s procurement process and was dismissed soon after for blowing the whistle.
He has launched an employment tribunal against the airport and had applied for permission to keep his job until a full hearing on his case takes place.
READ MORE: Former Prestwick Airport boss Derek Banks claims he was sacked for whistleblowing
However, employment judge Shona MacLean has refused his request, saying: “I could not say that [Mr Banks] has a pretty good chance of showing that the sole or principal reason for his dismissal was the making of protected disclosures.
“I therefore refuse the application.”
Mr Banks 50, from East Kilbride, has lodged claims with the tribunal for unfair dismissal and being treated unfairly for making a public interest disclosure.
He claims he told bosses about an issue with a third party acting on behalf of the airport – Halcion Ltd – and Breedon Aggregates, a company bidding for runway resurfacing work.
His allegations included that the two companies had an existing relationship which they kept secret and that Halcion had sought bids for work at the airport that went beyond what was actually needed.
In a written judgment, Judge MacLean found that it was likely Mr Banks could show that his involvement in the Halcion/Breedon situation amounted to a protected disclosure.
READ MORE: Labour demands Prestwick ‘bribery’ investigation
She said: “The disclosure of the Halcion/Breedon procurement issue disclosed facts and information which the claimant reasonably believed amounted to a criminal offence and was in the public interest.
"I considered that the claimant had a pretty good chance of establishing that the Halcion/Breedon procurement issue was a qualifying disclosure.”
However, the judge went on to say that Mr Banks could struggle when it came to showing that this potential disclosure contributed to his dismissal.
Judge MacLean said that the airport’s chief executive Stewart Adams, who took the decision to sack Mr Banks, “did not have anything to fear from the issues that [Mr Banks] was raising”.
Mr Adams took up the post of interim chief executive after the alleged corruption was said to have taken place and six months before Mr Banks was dismissed.
The judgment states: “The Halcion/Breedon procurement issue was ongoing when Mr Adams joined the business. In my view he was involved in meetings with third parties investigating the matter and encouraged [Mr Banks] to report developments. There was no suggestion that the issues raised by [Mr Banks] involved Mr Adams.”
READ MORE: Possible industrial action at Prestwick Airport as pay talks break down
The airport claimed that Mr Banks was dismissed due to his performance and a lack of engagement. The judge also found that further claims by Mr Banks were not likely to be found to be protected disclosures.
A full tribunal hearing on Mr Banks’s claims will take place later.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here