The Gozo Channel employee found guilty of forging a certificate to obtain a promotion will undergo disciplinary procedures and was only reinstated because he could not “just be fired”, according to Finance Minister Tonio Fenech.
Angelo Demanuele, 50, was in April given an 18-month jail term suspended for two years after he admitted to passing off a false EDH (efficient deck-hand) certificate as authentic to move up from security to the post of boatswain. Since then, he had been suspended from work on half-pay, according to the terms stipulated in the collective agreement.
However, he resumed work with the ferry company last week, albeit in a lower grade and not in the post he had been promoted to.
“Mr Demanuele was reverted to duty in his previous shore-based grade, that of security officer,” Gozo Channel said, adding that he would be summoned before the disciplinary board in the future.
When contacted, Mr Fenech pointed out that, although the court had found Mr Demanuele guilty, it did not give him an interdiction which would have prevented him from working in the public sector. So the company “could not just fire him” without going through the correct procedures.
“Our country is run by legislation and collective agreements and there are procedures which have to be followed. Obviously, the fact that he admitted in court to have made use of a false document to get a promotion is a serious enough matter to warrant a disciplinary process.”
Mr Fenech added that a board would therefore be set up to review the case and take the necessary steps accordingly.
“He’s broken the rules of the company. If there isn’t any disciplinary action or consequences, everyone will start using fake certificates,” Mr Fenech said.
The case had been brought to light by Gozo Channel captain Mario Grech who, in September 2009, filed a judicial protest claiming major safety flaws revolving around life-saving equipment, emergency training, lack of qualifications of the boatswain and the presence of the potentially deadly Legionella bacteria in the water supply of three ferries. The next day, Capt. Grech was told not to report for work.
He then filed a civil lawsuit against the company, which he dropped last July after Gozo Channel decided to pay both the court fees and the legal expenses he incurred. He was taken off the roster pending the outcome of an internal inquiry into his allegations, called by the Finance Minister.
The inquiry dismissed all but one of Capt. Grech’s claims, that Mr Demanuele had used a forged certificate to get a promotion.
In fact, this led to charges being filed against Mr Demanuele and the now retired human resources manager, a case which is still pending.