A secretary who was sacked on the spot for failing to alert her boss about an important phone call was awarded €2,500 after a tribunal decreed she had been treated too harshly.

On the day of her sacking in March last year, 58-year-old Veneranda Mangani took a call from an important client at Vella Falzon Building Supplies Ltd on behalf of her boss, Alexis Vella Falzon, a director.

The client had called him on the mobile phone but was diverted to the office landline. The secretary took a message on her notebook but, before she had the chance to inform her boss of the phone call, the client called again, this time getting through to Mr Vella Falzon directly and asking why he had not returned the call.

Mr Vella Falzon stormed out of his office, severely reprimanded Ms Mangani and told her to pack up and leave. She had been working for the company since November 2003.

According to evidence by Mr Vella Falzon and some colleagues, when he first confronted her she dismissed him, slammed the phone and replied with a “so what”.

The company, represented by lawyer Paul Gonzi, argued that this had not been the only incident but the proverbial final straw. The company produced an e-mail in which Ms Mangani was told that “...if you are not improving, this may lead to the termination of your employment”.

Dr Gonzi said Ms Mangani often misplaced documents while filing and was unable to use the telephone system despite being given its manual with important parts highlighted.

Lawyer Larry Gauci, who, along with lawyer Hugh Peralta, appeared for Ms Mangani, said he was not contesting his client’s omission about the phone call but argued that this was not a good enough reason to terminate her employment.

He said Ms Mangani’s duties at work had increased and rebutted the company’s complaints about her attitude, saying there were conflicting declarations on this with one saying she often brushed him off and the other saying she carried out her duties well.

In its decision, tribunal chairwoman Joan Haber noted that although Ms Mangani had been corrected several times and her inefficiencies pointed out, this had never been done in a formal manner. She therefore ruled that the company had dismissed Ms Mangani illegally.