A woman who was fired from her post as manager of a home for the elderly 10 years ago has won €14,000 in compensation after an industrial tribunal ruled she was unfairly dismissed.

The tribunal found that Antoinette Vella, who managed CareMalta’s Żejtun home for the elderly, was summarily dismissed in September 2005 after she accepted just over €100 as a gift for transferring a resident to a single room.

She was also given another €230, which she found inside a birthday card, by a colleague whom she helped when filling application forms for the transfer of her parents from another home for the elderly.

Despite the receipt of the monetary gifts, which, it was noted, did not classify as bribes, the tribunal found that Ms Vella was never given the opportunity to defend herself and had been fired without even being told why.

The tribunal was informed that Ms Vella had been employed as manager for almost 12 years until one day she was summoned by the chief executive officer, Alex Tranter. He asked whether she had ever received gifts and where a crucifix pendant she was wearing had come from.

She insisted the gifts were from residents and colleagues and that she had never received any bribes.

The tribunal also heard her colleague, Maria Taliana, say she had paid her €230 to transfer her parents from the St Catherine’s Home for the elderly to the one in Żejtun.

While accepting she had received the gift, Ms Vella insisted she only helped her colleague fill in the forms required for the transfer because the actual transfer had to go through an admissions board.

Mr Tranter told the tribunal that he had been told about gifts Ms Vella had received and confronted her about it. He also asked her about items belonging to residents who had passed away and which she sold from the home. Ms Vella explained she had bought brand new items from the relatives of a resident who had passed away soon after they were purchased and sold them at the same price to another resident who needed them.

The tribunal concluded the company was trying to find a justification for the dismissal

Mr Tranter said the receipt of gifts was “a serious offence” that merited dismissal, especially since this was seen within the context of other shortcomings.

In his award, tribunal chairman Leslie Cuschieri noted that Ms Vella had done things that could have been handled better. However, the company had not brought any witnesses to testify about the incidents for which she was fired.

Dr Cuschieri said the warnings that had been issued by the company were over “trivial matters”, such as permission for an off-duty worker to eat at the home.

Some of the matters raised during tribunal hearings were discovered after Ms Vella’s job had been terminated, leading the tribunal to conclude that the company was trying to find a justification for the dismissal.

In view of the lack of sufficient reasons at law to merit dismissal, the tribunal ordered CareMalta to pay Ms Vella €14,000 in compensation.

Lawyer Tonio Azzopardi appeared for Ms Vella.