Brow-beaten South Lanarkshire College staff were threatened with the sack after flagging up concerns about their working environment.
That’s the claim of on whistleblower who says workers had moved to highlight “unprofessional and inappropriate name-calling” by a manager in an email to HR.
But rather than investigate the claims of concerned staff, bosses ‘threatened to call police’ claiming the email was “malicious correspondence”.
It’s the latest in a series of damaging allegations against the college, which sees a backdrop of multiple, ongoing suspensions - including college principal, Aileen McKechnie.
The email, which contains screenshots of WhatsApp messages, was sent collectively last month by members of a care faculty team, appealing for HR chiefs to look into their concerns.
Yet, rather than do that, the whistleblower says staff were told college management could alert police and lawyers, before being further threatened by the manager at the centre of the concerns in a meeting.
In that meeting - called just days after the email to HR was sent - the manager is said to have told employees that “unless the culprit owns up,” their professional registration, jobs and any other work in which they were engaged, would “be at risk”.
Speaking exclusively to Lanarkshire Live, the whistleblower claims that a trade union rep and the head of HR were summoned to the room on the demand of employees at that meeting.
There it is alleged the head of HR said there was “potential for police involvement if any wrongdoing [associated with the email] came to light,” and that the college’s lawyers had been informed.
Wishing not to be named, the whistleblower told us : “Everybody had the fear of God put up them. It felt threatening.
“The head of HR knew what he was walking into - the stress, the tears, the reaction of people and their demands that he be present.
“Several screenshots were sent backing up the allegations, things the manager had said on group chats, their conduct and character.
“It was whistleblowing to say ‘this is how our manager behaves’, ‘these are the comments they make about other managers’. You expect the offending manager to be suspended and investigated.
“But HR were more interested in who provided the screenshots, rather than their content.
“There was name-calling of other managers. Referring to meetings, the manager would say things like ‘bored out of my tits’ and ‘waste of time’ - they even said their superior 'looked like she was on speed’.
“I mean, that’s an allegation of drug-taking in the workplace.
“There were tears at that meeting. Staff were very clear their registration and jobs were threatened. The whole meeting was called to threaten and coerce staff into confessing.”
According to the whistleblower, no one in the team has been interviewed about the content of the email or offered support, with several actually raising grievances over how the meeting was conducted and its “threatening nature.”
It’s the latest in a series of claims by disgruntled staff, past and present, to have rocked the troubled East Kilbride institution in the last 12 months.
A year ago, principal Aileen McKechnie and interim clerk to the board, Brian Keegan, were dramatically suspended - and remain so - amid a probe into “various complaints.”
Ms McKechnie had previously called for an external investigation into claims of misconduct at the institution.
The saga came under the spotlight at the Scottish Parliament in June this year when Central Scotland Tory MSP, Graham Simpson, called events there “a scandal” and demanded the reinstatement of Ms McKechnie and Mr Keegan.
He told Parliament: “There are allegations of private businesses operating from college premises, using college materials and lecturing staff time.
“In my view, the new principal, Aileen McKechnie, was cleaning up the mess.”
The latest whistleblower to come forward alleged of a “toxic culture of fear,” where “managers are covering for managers”.
They also claim that at one point during October this year, there were seven members of college staff suspended on full pay.
A spokesman for South Lanarkshire College (SLC) said the institution had received an anonymous email, from an external email address, which did not come in through the proper channels and did not therefore constitute formal whistleblowing.
In a statement, he said: “We can confirm that a disciplinary process is currently ongoing and cannot comment further on this matter.
“There has been no Police Scotland involvement in the current investigation.”
Police Scotland have been asked for a comment on the situation and provided with additional information from Lanarkshire Live when requested, but have yet to respond.
When pressed on claims that seven college employees were suspended on full pay at one point last month, and asked how many members of staff are currently suspended, SLC failed to respond.
* Do you have an opinion or comment about this story? Email niki.tennant@reachplc.com
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