Malta covered the expenses of four countries that participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest which the island hosted in 2016, according to former Public Broadcasting Services CEO John Bundy.
The veteran broadcaster, who on Tuesday was awarded €226,000 over his unfair dismissal, told the Industrial Tribunal that during his short tenure at the helm of PBS, he had held a meeting with the European Broadcasting Union’s chair about the contest.
Bundy was informed that according to an agreement reached with PBS chairman Tonio Portughese, Malta was meant to fork out expenses for six countries, if they accepted to participate in the event.
Former Public Broadcasting Services CEO John Bundy has been awarded over €226,000 in compensation after winning an unfair dismissal claim against the state broadcaster.
Bundy had taken his grievance before the Industrial Tribunal, claiming that he had only learnt about the unanimous vote of no confidence, taken against him at a directors’ meeting one year into his five-year contract as CEO, through media reports.
Although his termination letter subsequently listed a number of alleged shortcomings, an internal investigation conducted by private firm RSM was only kick-started when the vote of no confidence had been taken.
When delivering judgment on Tuesday, Tribunal chairperson Doreen Parnis stated that the “greatest anomaly” stemmed from the fact that the employee had never been given the chance of facing proper disciplinary proceedings, but had been fired on the basis of a vote of no confidence, taken two months before an internal investigation had even started.