Bingo Boss Wins Jackpot for Unfair Dismissal
- 19 Jan 13
- Written by Deena Chance

The panel were told that Marie had to take a more hands-on approach than many of the other bingo club managers as the Arbroath branch was smaller than most of the other clubs. They also heard that she regularly worked more hours than she was paid for, and was at one time highly-regarded by the management team, who had awarded her with the title of Regional Manager of the Year on many occasions.
The problems all started when a new performance measurement system for staff was introduced by Gala in January 2011, and it was concluded that the Arbroath club was not faring too well. The report stated that many of the club’s employees, who had recently transferred from the Montrose branch, were showing signs of negativity about the company, as well as airing concerns that the Arbroath branch might also close its doors in the same way that their previous one did.
Marie was summoned to a meeting in April 2011 with her line manager and human resources business manager, to talk about her current level of performance, and to help identify areas for improvement. Consequently, having monitored the situation for signs of improvement, her managers felt that she had not made sufficient progress. She received several warnings before the final decision was made in February 2012 to dismiss her.
Luckily, the tribunal took the ex-bingo hall manager’s side, and ruled that the dismissal was unfair, and awarded her with more than £44k in compensation.
We think Marie hit the jackpot big time, and she didn’t even need to play a bingo game to win it!