£125,000 payout for 'soccer hooligan'

Crisis-hit Consignia has been forced to offer £125,000 compensation to a London postal worker it unfairly dismissed for football hooliganism, the Evening Standard can reveal today.

The company's six-figure pay-off proposal to counters clerk Mick Doherty - sacked for fighting at the 2000 Uefa Cup Final between Arsenal and Turkish club Galatasaray - amounts to a humiliating U-turn by the former Post Office.

Faced with a London-wide strike over their refusal to reinstate him, senior managers at Consignia concluded that the massive payment was a price worth paying.

But the final cost of the dispute to the company could double to £250,000, according to a senior industry source.

Mr Doherty's postman brother Tom, a fellow Arsenal fan also sacked for fighting at the final in Copenhagen, is believed to be pressing for the same level of compensation.

Employment tribunals ruled that both Dohertys were unfairly dismissed and should be re-employed. But the company fought taking them back at every step, spending thousands of pounds on legal costs over a twoyear campaign.

The scale of the offer is even more damaging, coming as the company has announced a record £1.1billion annual loss and the axing of 17,000 mostly front-line delivery jobs. The former postal monopoly has also ditched its much-derided Consignia name, introduced at a cost of £2million 16 months ago, and announced it is spending £1million rebranding itself as Royal Mail Group Plc.

A senior industry source told the Standard: "Paying out this kind of money is seriously damaging for Consignia in its current predicament.

"This sort of payment sends out entirely the wrong sort of message to staff, especially when the company has announced such massive losses. How can management ask for stringent cutbacks while handing out this kind of money?"

The Dohertys' case has been a cause cel?bre among Consignia's workforce since photographs of them appearing to fight Turkish fans at the May 2000 Uefa Cup Final were splashed across the national press.

One picture showed Tom Doherty throwing a punch at a man who appeared to be a Turkish supporter during street battles between rival fans.

The company, acting in a climate where Tony Blair had urged that football hooligans be sacked, promptly dismissed the pair.

It sparked an immediate mass walkout by several thousand postal workers in north London demanding their reinstatement.

The brothers' supporters insisted that both had been protecting women and children in their group from an attack by Turkish fans throwing chairs and other items. They insisted that Mick Doherty in particular was being victimised because of his union activities as chairman of the north/north-west London branch of the Communication Workers' Union.

But Consignia insisted it had acted within its rights and only after researching the details thoroughly. It eventually agreed earlier this year to reinstate Tom if it loses its forthcoming appeal, but has refused to take back Mick Doherty under any circumstances.

A Consignia spokesman today refused to comment on the compensation offer, saying: "It is not company policy to discuss personnel issues." The spokesman added that it was justified in refusing to reinstate Mick Doherty because of an "irreparable breakdown in trust" between employer and employee.

Mick Doherty, who has always demanded reinstatement as his minimum requirement, today denied all knowledge of the offer but added: "I can't say anything now that will jeopardise ongoing negotiations."

A London-wide strike is being threatened at a time when the company cannot afford any disruption. On top of daily losses of £1.5 million, it is facing the prospect of fresh competition from new delivery rivals and fines from the industry regulator if it fails to hit delivery targets.

A drop in delivery standards brought on by strikes could see licences issued to new rivals - further undermining the former monopoly's business.

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