Education minister guilty of unfair dismissal

Education minister Dolores Cristina was found guilty of unfairly dismissing a programme coordinator at Conservatorio Vincenzo Bugeja in 2010.

Education minister Dolores Cristina
Education minister Dolores Cristina

The Industrial Tribunal has ruled that education minister Dolores Cristina unfairly dismissed the former Police Sergeant Marisa Bartolo from Conseratorio Vincenzo Bugeja, and ordered that she be paid €3,900 in compensation.

The decision was based on evidence given by Bartolo who said that at the end of her probation period, Richard Manchè, - then chairman at Conservatorio Vincenzo Bugeja - had informed her that the school was satisfied with her work, however six weeks after, Manchè had informed her that she was being suspended by order of Minister Cristina.

Bartolo had been engaged as Home-Programme Coordinator in May 2009, subject to a one year probation period.

Her employment was confirmed in April the following year, however a board of inquiry within the school set up by minister Dolores Cristina.

The Inquiry delved into Bartolo's behaviour with youths at the special school, and concluded that "Ms Marisa Bartolo's training and extensive experience in the Police Force have formed her and conditioned her behaviour to date, More than twelve months of direction form the HD, role modelling and feedback from other members of staff have not yielded the desired changes. Her position with the Conservatorio setup is therefore considered untenable."

Tancred Tabone, who was appointed chairman of the management board at the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bugeja admitted to have never met Bartolo or spoke to her, except during the proceedings related to her termination of employment.

The Tribunal ruled that Bartolo was unfairly dismissed and awarded her €3,900 in compensation, which must be paid within eight weeks.

Lawyer Anglu Farrugia appeared for Bartolo, while Peter Fenech appeared for the Education Ministry.

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What’s all this fus about the money being sucked from the taxpayers’ coffers to make good for the unfair dismissal of a worker by the Honourable Education Minister? Why worry about the €3,900 in compensation awarded to the worker concerned by the Industrial Tribunal, when we can console ourselves that a lawyer who enjoys the Nationalist Party’s trust will be pocketing a sizeable amount of money for the legal advice and assistance so kindly rendered to the Honourable Education Minister in the place of a lawyer available from the Office of the Attorney General? It’s certainly nobody’s business if the Honourable Education Minister likes to pay a house lawyer of her trust from public funds instead of using the free of charge services of a salaried lawyer in public office. After all this is nothing compared to the money being poured down the drain by her counterpart the Honourable Health Minister upon whom the responsibility lies for the selection of the husband of the Honourable Education Minister’s daughter and three other fellows as a medical consultants without even being qualified to apply for the post. One can take as very simple example the hundreds of thousands of euros that have gone down the drain because of the Honourable Health Minister’s procrastination for 3 whole years to decide whether to transfer the Oncology Department to the Rehabilitation Hospital Karen Grech or Mater Dei Hospital, notwithstanding that from the very begining the former head of the Oncology Department had advised the latter option. Another case in point is that mentioned in a constitutional case filed againt the Honourable Health Minister to which there has been no public reaction by the Government, where it has been claimed that, after having pointed out breaches of the law in the employment of individuals by the Health Ministry, a Health Official was removed from his duties and placed in a room on his own without any work at all to do while receiving a salary and a performance bonus. No problem at all. As it has been so aptly proclaimed by the ex-Nationalist Minister of Finance, the late George Bonello Dupuis, our public debt will be paid by our children and grandchildren.
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Din il-poza qisa ta' xi wahda minn Hollywood.
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This is the tip of the iceberg. The Education Ministry has become the showcase of bad treatment to its employees who do not come from the Sliema district or are not of the same political colour. Malta in the EU has turned out to be worse than any other period in living memory.
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Justice! All those who do wrong should pay for their misdeeds. Immunity should be abolished in this country. No one should be above the Law.
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Mhux ta xejn din trid titlaq...too many skeletons in the cupboard!
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Hekk tajjeb ---- mela mit-taxxi li jhallas cikku l-poplu, issa minbarra li rridu nohorgu l-erbat elef ewro kumpens lil Bartolo irridu nhallsu wkoll il-kont biz-zalza li, m'ghandniex xi nghidu, l-avukat Peter Fenech (miskin, dan kumbinazzjoni nazzjonalist maghruf sew, tafux) ser jibghat lill-ministeru (ghax probabbli dolores ma tkunx hemm dak iz-zmien !!!) meta suppost li l-agenzija tal-avukat generali tipprovdi servizzi legali lill-gvern b'avukati impjegati mal-gvern !!! Tghid tancred tabone ma ghandux xi honorarium ukoll bhala chairman tal-management board tal-konservatorju - nahseb li haqqu, mhux hekk, wara li hareg ta' bravu bil-mod kif ittratta lil din i-sinjura!!!! --- veru gonzipn wasal fl-ahhar fazin tal-agunija tieghu issa ... ic-cucata li sakemm inwarrbuh se jkompli jaghmel festa shiha mil-flus tal-pajjiz u jharbat kulma jsib quddiemu .....