USC administrator charged with Dave Forsey over job losses
|
Version 0 of 1. An accountant involved in the administration of part of USC has been charged with a criminal offence relating to the collapse of the retail chain alongside Sports Direct boss Dave Forsey. Robert Palmer, a compliance and technical partner at The Gallagher Partnership, and Forsey both pleaded not guilty to a charge of failing to notify the business secretary ahead of laying of workers at USC’s Scottish warehouse. The charges brought by the Department for Business assert that the two men “did consent to, connive at or neglect to prevent the failure by West Coast Capital (USC) Limited [a division of Sports Direct] to comply with section 193(2) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 in that [they] failed to notify the secretary of state at least 30 days before the first dismissal took place on 14 January”. Forsey’s charge relates to a period between 4 January and 14 January while Palmer’s charge relates to a period between 12 January and 5 February. Neither were at Chesterfield magistrates court on Wednesday for the hearing, in which their lawyers lodged not guilty pleas ahead of a trial, scheduled to start in March next year. Angus Bunyon, acting for Forsey, said: “This is a summary-only matter, with a maximum penalty of £5,000.” He added later that it was a “pretty complicated case”. Workers from the Unite union led a protest outside the court, just over 10 miles from Sports Direct’s headquarters in Shirebrook. Unite’s regional officer, Luke Primarolo, said: “These criminal charges are the latest in a long line of major concerns over the conduct of Sports Direct, ranging from the retailer’s poor corporate governance to its use of ‘Victorian’ work practices.” In January, about 200 workers at USC’s warehouse in Scotland were given just 15 minutes notice that they were losing their jobs by administrators to West Coast Capital (USC), a division of Sports Direct. The Trade Union Act states that an employer must give 30 days’ notice to the secretary of state of proposals to make 20 or more staff redundant. Failure to do so is an offence which is liable for a fine of up to £5,000. The charges against Forsey and Palmer emerged after 50 former USC employees were awarded compensation for not being consulted properly ahead of their dismissal. The workers received a “protective award” equivalent to 90 days pay after Glasgow’s employment tribunal heard how USC staff at its warehouse in Dundonald, Ayrshire had not been properly consulted. USC filed its intention to appoint an administrator on 6 January 2015, and formally entered administration a week later – at which point staff were told by the administrators that they would lose their jobs in 15 minutes. The Insolvency Service has recently kicked off an investigation into the conduct of directors of West Coast Capital (USC). The government body has the power to ban somebody from serving as a director for up to 15 years if they are found to have acted improperly. The controversial closure of the warehouse prompted a parliamentary debate and a Scottish affairs select committee hearing, during which Sports Direct’s chairman Keith Hellawell – a former chief constable of West Yorkshire police – admitted the group’s executives only informed him about the administration the day before it happened. The MPs had originally asked Ashley to appear, but the billionaire declined to attend. |