Council sports boss sues for £500,000 after losing his job

A SENIOR official is suing Aberdeen City Council for £500,000 after he was suspended from a job running sports centres on behalf of the local authority.

Graham Wark launched the legal action following an investigation based on claims that he had been "cutting corners" in his post as managing director of Sport Aberdeen.

The 48-year-old had been seconded from Aberdeen City Council to the sports trust in March last year before allegations were made against him regarding financial irregularities and concerns that he was not fulfilling the duties of the role.

Mr Wark was later cleared of any wrongdoing and was reinstated to the position last June. But he was later told his secondment would be terminated.

He is now set to launch legal proceedings against the council for loss of earnings and the potential earnings of the years he had left in his career. The law suit is set to be lodged at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

Yesterday, officials from the GMB union urged Aberdeen City Council to resume talks with Mr Wark in order to prevent the need for legal action.

Mike Middleton, union representative with GMB, said Mr Wark had conducted himself with "professionalism and diplomacy" throughout.

He said: "I would urge Aberdeen City Council to get round the table in order to avoid the consequences of this serious matter."

Yesterday, a spokesman for the authority said the council could not make any further comment on Mr Wark's case. He added: "Aberdeen City Council does not comment on individual staffing matters."

The council's chief accountant carried out an initial investigation into the allegations and a report was sent to Sport Aberdeen in June last year.

It found "serious issues" in Mr Wark's work, but stated that he had not broken the law in the position. After the termination of his secondment, Mr Wark lodged a grievance with the council, arguing that the termination was illegal.

An independent investigation cleared him of any wrongdoing and found fault with the report compiled by the local authority accountants.

The independent report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers criticised the council's handling of the affair, saying: "Although we are of the opinion the review was conducted in a proper manner, we believe certain statements in the full investigatory report are misleading, being irrelevant to the investigation remit or not fully supported by the evidence presented in the detailed findings. It was unfair to Mr Wark the report focused primarily on his role in relation to the allegations."

Mr Wark declined to comment yesterday.