Sacked casino manager wins £40,000 after secret filming
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A casino manager has won £40,000 compensation after her bosses secretly filmed her at home to try to prove she was having an affair with a married work colleague.
Stephanie Halliday, 41, was sacked from her job as senior floor manager at Ritz Club Casino in Piccadilly, London, because she was suspected of lying about her relationship with another manager, Anthony Piotrowskie, 47.
Despite the casino's claim, supported by video evidence and mobile phone call records, that the couple had begun a secret relationship, Croydon Employment Tribunal ruled that they had both been unfairly dismissed.
Yesterday Ms Halliday was awarded £40,000 on top of the £52,000 already awarded to Mr Piotrowskie.
Ms Halliday's lawyer told the tribunal that she had insisted all along that the relationship with Mr Piotrowskie was purely platonic. But Andrew Love, chief executive of the Ritz Club Casino, said he made Ms Halliday redundant in 2001 because he believed she had lied to him.
He told the tribunal: "I dismissed her because I believed she was not being honest when asked if she was having a relationship [with Mr Piotrowskie]."
Mr Love added that dishonesty in the casino business was particularly dangerous. He said: "I think if people are unable to tell the truth about some things, that raises a lot of other questions about a business that is cash and cheque run and that is scrutinised by the Gaming Board, like ours."
Ms Halliday said the £40,000 compensation did not recognise the full extent of her ordeal. She said she could not believe the company had filmed her at her home in Bexley, south-east London, and checked the mobile phone accounts of Mr Piotrowskie.
The tribunal was told Mr Piotrowskie was once filmed entering Ms Halliday's home in the early hours after they had finished work. Ms Halliday maintained that he visited her house to use her computer.
The couple are now understood to be involved in a relationship, which they say only started after the company decided to take action against them.
A spokeswoman for the Ritz Club declined to comment on the case.