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PA felt 'abused and betrayed' by boss's note

ANGRY: June Sime
ANGRY: June Sime
JEFF WAAGE: Left note on his desk
JEFF WAAGE: Left note on his desk

A HIGH-FLYING personal assistant left her job after she found a note detailing her bad points in her boss's office.

Grandmother June Sime, who has worked for Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Ted Heath and Harold Wilson, attended an employment tribunal in Ashford on Thursday to hear the closing arguments in her case against Imperial College in Wye.

Mrs Sime, 57, was executive assistant to Prof Jeff Waage, the head of the college.

She was devastated to find the sheet of paper on his desk in January 2003 when she went to collect some papers. She is now claiming unfair dismissal from her post of six years.

Mrs Sime, a weekend volunteer at the Pilgrims Hospice in Ashford, said: "I felt abused and betrayed by Professor Waage and the faculty, distrustful of them and very upset. I was unconvinced that we could work together in the future."

A remedies hearing has been set for November, at which the tribunal will rule what action should be taken if Mrs Sime's claim is successful.

Three options would be open to the tribunal, including ordering Wye College to re-employ Mrs Sime in the same job; ordering the college to take her on for a different position; or demanding that she be paid compensation.

Mrs Sime, of Marine Parade, Folkestone, said: "We are feeling more confident than we did after the three-day hearing in June."

On Thursday, the tribunal heard closing submissions from barristers on both sides before retiring to come to a decision. Both Mrs Sime and Wye College will be informed in writing of the outcome over the next few weeks.

Paul Epstein, representing Imperial College, said that Prof Waage had not breached Mrs Sime's contract or broken trust with her by leaving the document about her future lying around.

He added that much of the problem stemmed from the fact that Mrs Sime had insisted on retaining her £25,000 salary if she was transferred to another post following the breakdown in her professional relationship with Prof Waage.

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