A senior staff member of the Malta College of Arts, Sciences and Technology is accusing board of governors president Fredrick Schembri of threatening to make her go through hell, according her legal counsel.
“Dear, let’s settle, don’t let me make you go through hell,” Mr Schembri told Josephine Abdilla during a meeting on July 23, lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona told the Times of Malta.
When asked about the allegation, Mr Schembri would only say that since “there is an ongoing inquiry commissioned by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo it is prudent for me to refrain from commenting pending the outcome of the inquiry”.
New college principal James Calleja in July asked Ms Abdilla to suspend herself on forced paid leave pending disciplinary action.
According to her lawyer, the college’s top administration later issued charges against Ms Abdilla accusing her of administrative wrongdoing, particularly in relation to promotions and recruitment.
The charges refer to cases that allegedly occurred before the new Mcast administration took over.
Times of Malta was told that, following the change of administration last June, some staff members made allegations against Ms Abdilla claiming injustices in promotions, bullying and intimidation.
Sources said the Malta Union of Teachers had never received such claims against Ms Abdilla and feared this was some kind of “an excuse to get rid of the unpopular HR director”.
“She is not the easiest of persons but she tried to do things in a fair and straight manner without giving in to orders from above,” the sources said.
Dr Borg Cardona said Ms Abdilla strongly denied the accusations levelled at her and had no problem proving her innocence in front of the courts, if necessary.
Let’s settle, don’t let me make you go through hell
During an interview she had a few days ago with the board of inquiry investigating the claims, he continued, “not a single question was put to her regarding complaints made against her administrative decisions”.
Dr Borg Cardona said she had now instructed him to take the matter to the Industrial Tribunal “where all the circumstances and evidence will be brought to light”.
He insisted Ms Abdilla would certainly not allow anybody to make her a scapegoat.
The Education Ministry had announced in July a board of inquiry, headed by financial consultant Paul Bonello, had been set up to investigate alleged administrative abuses. It added that more serious allegations, of a criminal nature, had been passed on to the police for investigation.
The Times of Malta reported that the criminal investigations were about an Mcast programme for students with mental disorders called Pathway. It has been alleged that some lecturers were involved in sexual acts and harassment and other illicit abuses in the presence of the students in the programme.
The college staff member who made the allegations prior to 2017 said the previous administration knew about these claims and did nothing about them.
When contacted, former Mcast chairman Silvio De Bono confirmed he was aware of the abuse allegations, noting that an inquiry had been held.
“A report of the inquiry was passed on to then CEO Stephen Cachia for action as it was up to him to implement what was recommended,” he said, adding a copy of the report had also been forwarded to Mr Bartolo.
The Education Ministry refused to comment on the abuse allegations, citing “pending investigations”.
Asked whether Ms Abdilla, as HR director, had been involved in the Pathway investigation and the implementation of the inquiry’s recommendations, Dr Borg Cardona pointed out it was she who had flagged the alleged abuse.
“What I can tell you at this stage is that the inquiry board thanked Ms Abdilla for her efforts in bringing the issues out in circumstances where certain senior officials at Mcast appear to have been reluctant to take action,” he said.
Questions to Mr Bartolo on whether he was aware of the alleged sexual abuse allegations remained unanswered.
ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com