The managing editor of Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd told an employment appeals tribunal in Dublin yesterday he "fundamentally disagreed" with earlier evidence given to the tribunal by a senior member of staff at the newspaper group.
Mr Michael Roche said evidence from the company's human resources manager, Mr Declan Carlyle, to the effect that he had given Mr Roche a document outlining feelings of isolation and marginalisation felt by the Sunday Independent's former crime correspondent, Ms Liz Allen, in May 2000 was incorrect.
Mr Roche was giving evidence in an action taken by Ms Allen against the newspaper group for constructive dismissal.
Ms Allen is alleging bullying, harassment and intimidation by two members of staff in particular at the Sunday Independent - the news editor, Mr Willie Kealy, and the assistant news editor, Mr Jody Corcoran. She claims she suffered stress and depression as a result of the way she was treated and the effect on her health was such she had to resign. The claims are denied.
Mr Roche said the first he heard of Ms Allen's allegations of bullying and harassment were at a meeting with her and her husband, Mr Andrew Hanlon, on September 13th, 2000, just days before she resigned.
However, he had a series of meetings with her in June 2000 when she alleged she was not being treated with respect and dignity. He said Ms Allen cried for all but 10 minutes of the two-hour meeting on September 13th. He promised to investigate her allegations fully, however he believed she "collapsed the scrum" when she resigned. She went on sick leave after that meeting and resigned on September 20th.
Asked by the tribunal if he wrote to her while she was on sick leave telling her what action he would take, Mr Roche said in hindsight that might have been helpful. He planned to begin his investigation on September 21st, when she was due back. Cross-examined by Mr Rory Brady SC, for Ms Allen, as to whether he carried out the investigation he had planned once Ms Allen handed in her notice, he said he did not.
Mr Roche said he put a number of options to Ms Allen at the September meeting. They included moving her out of the Sunday Independent newsroom "as it was clearly having a detrimental effect on her" or taking a case for constructive dismissal. However, he denied telling her she would probably win an action for constructive dismissal.
After the meeting, he spoke to Mr Kealy and Mr Corcoran and they denied allegations she had made, including that Mr Corcoran had dismissed her job as easy and that Mr Kealy had "eyeballed" her because a story she did was not followed up by other newspapers. Mr Brady put it to him that Ms Allen was a tough journalist who had "cracked up". Mr Roche said he felt at first glance her reaction was out of proportion to the nature of her complaints.