Ex-Interbrew chief's £500,000 claim

A FORMER head of IT services at brewing giant Interbrew is claiming more than £500,000 for loss of salary and pension after he was sacked on a charge of serious malpractice for donating old computers to schools and retiring employees.

Kevin Kelly of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, had worked for Interbrew, formerly Whitbread, since 1980 and by 2002 had become head of IT.

Now he has filed a writ at the High Court against his former employers, saying that his dismissal was wrongful and in breach of contract.

The writ says that Interbrew had a policy of helping in the community, including donating computer equipment to schools and giving old equipment to retiring employees.

Kelly says in the writ that he was asked by two such employees if they could keep their computers, but as there were none available he bought two second-hand laptops from a company used by Interbrew to recondition equipment.

He also met a request by his manager for old IT equipment for a school in the same way. In all, ten computers were bought at a total cost of £3,500.

But at the beginning of this year Kelly was suspended pending an investigation and was sacked after a disciplinary hearing. Interbrew declined to comment.