Sacked 'Pope joke' trio win back jobs with SFA

• Referee Hugh Dallas is considering a tribunal action Picture: SNS

The employees will return to work at Hampden later this month, despite their involvement in a furious sectarian row that saw the dismissal of Hugh Dallas, the SFA's former head of referee development.

A union official who had represented the sacked staff in negotiations with Scottish football's governing body described the e-mails as a "wee hiccup" on the workers' unblemished records of service.

But one prominent Scottish Catholic said the decision to bring the sacked workers back "showed the SFA continues not to understand the severity of the issue".

A total of five employees - including Mr Dallas - were originally fired in November during a disciplinary hearing that was called after they circulated the e-mail containing a joke linking the Pope to child abuse.

The e-mail, sent as the pontiff was visiting Scotland, was condemned at the time by the Catholic Church, which demanded Mr Dallas be sacked.

Scandal far from a joke for former Grade One referee

Mr Dallas attempted to overturn his dismissal but his appeal was rejected at the end of December. The former World Cup referee is considering taking the SFA to an employment tribunal.

The offending e-mail showed a road sign of an adult holding a child's hand. It was captioned: "Caution: The Pope is coming" in reference to the papal visit.

The members of staff who were sacked were alleged to have forwarded the e-mail from their SFA accounts in breach of the organisation's IT policy.

The staff given their jobs back were secretary Amanda McDonald, audio-visual technician Tim Berridge and administrative assistant Marco McIntyre. The fifth sacked employee is not thought to have launched an appeal.

The SFA agreed the three employees, all members of the GMB union, could return to work after an appeal hearing on Wednesday, which saw union officials meet SFA president George Peat and the head of human resources, Viv Coady.

The SFA's handling of the controversy was criticised by Michael McMahon, the Labour MSP and a prominent Catholic, who suggested the organisation had attempted to conduct the appeal "on the quiet".

"I have always taken the view that no organisation is beyond parody or satire. But that e-mail was intended to be offensive. It is disappointing that the SFA does not appear to understand the severity of what that e-mail was about," he said.

"For the Pope to be labelled a paedophile is not funny under any circumstances and anyone involved in that kind of humour should pay a high price.

"I totally understand that people have employment rights, but given the profile of the organisation and the circumstances that all this has provoked, the last thing the SFA should be doing is considering this appeal on the quiet.

"It would appear to show that the SFA continues not to understand the severity of the issue. I wouldn't question the outcome of the appeal process but I have to question the signals that the SFA is sending out."

The failure of the SFA to act swiftly after the controversy erupted last September was condemned by the Catholic Church at the time. Two months after the issue came to light, the Church's spokesman, Peter Kearney, wrote to SFA chief executive Stewart Regan urging him to sack Mr Dallas if the allegations were proved; to make its investigations public, and to treat the matter with urgency.

In his letter, Mr Kearney described Mr Dallas's conduct as "totally unprofessional, gratuitously insulting to the Pope, deeply offensive to the Catholic community of Scotland and an incitement to anti-Catholic sectarianism".

Last night, the Church's response was more muted. Mr Kearney said: "Without knowing the detail of these individuals' cases, it would not be possible to comment on them.

"But ultimately, the content of the e-mail in question does still constitute an explicit and unwarranted attack on the Pope about which the Church remains very concerned."

Brian Johnstone, the GMB official who dealt with the case, said: "We appealed on the basis that the dismissal outweighed what they had done. They had impeccable records of service, then they had a wee hiccup and they were dismissed. It was a good result for the union."

Mr Johnstone said the SFA's IT policy classified the offence as "gross misconduct". But he added the employees had not been given a final warning before being shown the door.

He added: "I just said that they (the SFA] needed to look at their policy and we got the dismissal overturned.

"I have got to say that this was a big step for George Peat to take, because it was the chief executive, Stewart Regan, who sacked them. It was a big step, but we welcome it."

Mr Peat said: "We have completed the appeals procedure and, in keeping with our policy regarding internal disciplinary matters, we have no further comment to make."

Background

In NOVEMBER, the Catholic Church in Scotland called for SFA staff to be sacked over reports that they forwarded a joke e-mail about the Pope.

The letter, written by Scottish Catholic media office director Peter Kearney, was sent to SFA chief executive Stewart Regan. Two days later, it emerged former Fifa World Cup referee Hugh Dallas had left his position at the SFA. It is understood Mr Dallas is considering an employment tribunal over his dismissal.

Secretary Amanda McDonald, technician Tim Berridge and admin assistant Marco McIntyre were all sacked over the e-mail. Mailroom manager Bob Bryan is thought not to have appealed against his sacking.