Sacking over club tee times 'justified'

THE sacking of a senior official at the world-famous St Andrews golf course for giving slots reserved for locals to millionaire Irish businessman JP McManus was justified, an employment tribunal heard yesterday.

The tribunal was told an appeal hearing carried out by St Andrews Links Trust concluded the decision by the trust to dismiss chief players' assistant Eddie McDonald was correct.

Mr McDonald lost his job at the Old Course in St Andrews after an investigation discovered he had given tee times to Mr McManus and his brother, Gerry, on two occasions last year.

Mr McDonald denies this and has taken his former employers to a tribunal claiming he was unfairly dismissed.

Giving evidence on the third day of the tribunal in Dundee, Fife councillor and trust appointee Peter Douglas told how he had presided over an appeal hearing into Mr McDonald's case held last December. He said there had been "lots of tension" in the room and Mr McDonald and his legal representative had submitted late papers.

Mr Douglas said that, after reviewing the details of the appeal, he could "find no fault" in the way in which the decision to sack Mr McDonald had been made. He said the decision to treat Mr McDonald's actions as gross misconduct was justified.

It is claimed that Mr McManus and his brother obtained tee times on August 26 and September 28, 2004, which had been applied for in Mr McDonald's name.

The tribunal was told that Mr McDonald, of Gauldry, Fife, had made efforts to contact Mr McManus through his secretary so he could be cleared of any wrongdoing.

Mr Douglas said that, when this information emerged at the appeal, he had told Mr McDonald he would need more than verbal assurances he had tried to make contact.

Mr McDonald's solicitor, Kenneth Glass, asked Mr Douglas: "Did you consider that the trust should make contact with Mr McManus?"

"It was unfortunate, certainly that no contact had been made," he replied. "In many respects, Mr McManus is the key to the whole thing."

Mr Douglas later added: "The only person that might have transgressed was Eddie, but the only person who could confirm that or back it up was McManus himself. It obviously would have helped Eddie's position considerably had we had that information."

The tribunal also heard that evidence from a barman at the golf course who was told by four Irishmen on August 28 they hoped to play on the Old Course had been deemed "irrelevant" by Mr Douglas.