French woman suing Scots charity for discrimination was 'fired for being hostile'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A French woman suing a Scots charity for racial and ethnic discrimination was fired for being "hostile" and "uncooperative", her ex-boss has told a hearing.The Edinburgh Employment Tribunal is hearing the case of Lydia Magloire, 49, who alleges she was dismissed from Edinburgh charity Earth in Common for being French and for having “broken” English, reports Edinburgh Live.The court heard on Thursday from Ms Evie Murray, CEO and founder of Earth in Common as she was questioned by Employment Judge Murdo Macleod.Ms Murray shared her understanding of why Ms Magloire was dismissed, claiming it was due to a holiday leave issue, conduct concerns and “longstanding” problems with performance in her role.She said: "There was a lot of hostility between [a member of staff] and [Ms Magloire].

Ms Magloire seemed unhappy with [the member of staff] and regularly brought complaints to me. There were longstanding issues with her not turning up to meetings."[Ms Magloire] really only wanted to work in the garden.

It was difficult to get her to focus on [other] work that needed to be done. There was a lot of hostility between some volunteers at the market garden and [Ms Magloire]."The court also heard Ms Magloire had requested 15 days of leave over three weeks during July and August 2023.

Ms Murray claimed no formal request was lodged and the holiday fell during their most important period of the year - during a building launch and when Ms Magloire was one of two trained baristas in their cafe.Ms Murray continued: “We really depended on our two baristas to induct new staff.