Waygood employee Topsy Qur'et wins compensation

Apr 30 2010 by Amy Hunt, The Journal

A CRIPPLED art organisation must pay an artist £4,000 in compensation for his unfair dismissal.

Topsy Qur’et was fired from his job at Waygood in December 2008 after a row with his boss, chief executive Helen Smith.

An employment tribunal ruled Mr Qur’et was entirely without blame and described Ms Smith’s behaviour as “not normal”. Now he has been awarded £4,023 in compensation and costs.

At a tribunal remedy hearing it emerged Waygood is on the verge of liquidation after its funding was pulled, with the board of directors “considering its future”.

Because of this, the tribunal panel threw out a request by Mr Qur’et for Waygood to offer him his job back, after hearing this post no longer existed.

Mr Qur’et, 47, from Byker, Newcastle, worked at Waygood for two years and three months, but was suspended and then fired after tension with Ms Smith over his contract.

The earlier tribunal heard in July 2008 the artist approached Ms Smith in her studio to discuss the issue. She claimed she had felt intimidated by Mr Qur’et, telling the tribunal he had stood still and stared at her “as though he was waiting for her to crumble and crack” until she “lost it”, pushing him out of the room because she was scared.

But the panel decided Ms Smith’s version of events was “lacking in credibility” and said it had “heard evidence that she had bullied other staff, the implication being that she was prone to lose control”.