The University of Lincoln has told The Linc they have spent £182,238.35 in the last 18 months on legal fees, which includes action, advice, contracts “etc”.
Over the period in question, the university has been subject to litigation regarding one case of alleged constructive dismissal, four cases of alleged unfair dismissal, one case of alleged disability discrimination, one case of alleged sexual discrimination, and one contractual dispute.
The Linc were told that in every case the action was subsequently withdrawn by the plaintiff.
Chris Spendlove, the university’s registrar, says that among the cases above, another case of alleged unfair dismissal was successfully denied by the university.
This means that although the university did not have to face action from the plaintiffs in question, the one time that they had to, they won.
However, there is the question of the extraordinarily high figure that the university has given us. If action was withdrawn before proceedings why did it cost so much?
There are a few things that over £180,000 could be spent on. More journals for the library, better equipment for departments, or just more of it, so that students don’t have to struggle when they need to get their work in on time.
The same amount of money could have been used to buy 112 professional, broadcast-standard cameras, or 124 top-end Apple iMacs.
The Linc thought that it would be prudent to investigate further by asking the Nottingham-based Tribunals Service about the cases. We are to hear back from them in a couple of weeks. We will update this story on our website when we hear back from the relevant public authorities.