ALBA Party members could be on the hook for a £36,000 legal bill after one of Alex Salmond’s closest allies was sacked.
It emerged that Chris McEleny had been sacked as general secretary in February however it has now come to light that there was an earlier attempt on January 2, the Sunday Mail reports.
This had to be abandoned after concerns were raised that the party could be in breach of employment law, however he was booted out after a vote by Alba’s national executive committee (NEC) on January 4, the paper said.
Leaked emails showed that party bosses were warned that if McEleny challenged the decision in an employment tribunal, they could expect a bill of more than £36,000.
A £250-per-hour lawyer responded to a request for advice from Alba chair Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (below) and former MP Neale Hanvey.
The brief said that if the party went ahead with getting rid of McEleny, there could be “an argument that the result was predetermined” given that members of the NEC voted before he had the chance to defend himself.
The lawyer also raised concerns about Alba’s corporate structure, which could leave members having to foot the bill of a legal challenge.
They said: “The Alba Party appears to be an unincorporated association. This means personal liability is a real risk. The most recent tribunal I had ran for seven days. Time incurred was £35k + VAT.”
An Alba spokesperson told the Sunday Mail: “The NEC are satisfied individual liability has not been incurred and any claims against the party have been appropriately mitigated.”
McEleny declined to comment.
