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Cheltenham Council sue ex Managing Director for £1m

Christine Laird, former Managing Director of Cheltenham Borough Council, is being sued by her ex-employers for ‘fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation’ in the High Court over an alleged failure to disclose her medical history at recruitment.

The authority claim that Mrs Laird failed to disclose three bouts of depressive illness between May 2007 and her employment in February 2002 despite specific questions on her application form about previous illness. After an explosive period in the role where Mrs Laird filed 25 official complaints about her employer, sought a restraining order against the leader of the council and pursued a failed legal claim against them, Mrs Laird was absent from work on full pay from June 2004 and has now been retired on ill health grounds and it is the cost of the salary and pension that the council is seeking to recover. 

Whilst the exotic nature of her relationship with the Council is making the headlines, the case looks set to establish some case law over the accuracy of details given by candidates at recruitment, a problem which has been increasingly acute for employers. This has also been thrown into further focus by a Senior NHS Manager in Stoke, Lee Whitehead, who was given a 12 week prison sentence for ‘obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception’ after exaggerating his qualifications in his job application.