An Employment Tribunal in Watford has ruled in the favour of Haringey Council concluding that Gillie Christou and Maria Ward were fairly sacked following the highly publicised Baby P case.
The court said that the actions of the council to dismiss the pair were justified given the serious failings in the care given to the toddler. Peter Connelly died from over 50 injuries inflicted on him by his mother and her boyfriend in 2007. And although the family were visited 60 times, the two social workers admitted that there was a failing in the requirement to visit the see the child every fortnight and there was also a period of time where they were unable to locate him.The employment solicitors for Mrs Christou and Ms Ward have said they are disappointed with the outcome and plan to appeal. It was felt that their case was strengthened by the ruling in the Court of Appeal last May that the children’ services director of the council had been unfairly sacked following the incident.The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article. Setfords Solicitors have employment lawyers throughout the country, with a number of these based in London. Please visit our London Solicitors page to find out more.