In an extraordinary six-month campaign of legal threats, Northern Rock has been pursuing Andrew Kirkland, a 26-year-old systems analyst, claiming he is responsible for leaking details about the huge bonuses secretly awarded to its bosses along with plans to close branches and freeze assets.
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MP is demanding a Parliamentary debate into why Northern Rock, which was nationalised in February, has spent at least £130,000 of taxpayers’ money pursuing
a junior employee on charges he denies, but which in any event involve matters of public interest.Kevan Jones, Labour MP for North Durham, told Parliament last week the bank had no business attacking a ‘whistleblower who exposed the outrageous bonuses the previous management were paying themselves’.
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Mr Kirkland, who worked for the bank for four years, has always denied he was the source of these articles.But since January, he says Schillings has bombarded him with phone calls, letters and emails aimed at making him accept an agreement.
In the proposed deal, the bank said it would drop disciplinary proceedings and waive damages if Mr Kirkland would be potentially liable for its legal costs of £130,000 which, it warns, could increase at a later stage.
He would have his resignation accepted, but would have to keep the terms of the agreement confidential.
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In May, Mr Kirkland made a formal complaint to Northern Rock that its legal pursuit of him while he was signed off sick was unjustified.He says he has now received a High Court writ from Schillings claiming the cost of all legal proceedings brought against him and damages done to the bank’s reputation.
Northern Rock is likely to know Mr Kirkland is currently homeless and has minimal assets.
His starting salary in 2004 was only £10,100 per annum although it had risen.
Mr Kirkland is unable to find a solicitor to take on his case but the bit that shows the level that these guys operate at is this one [my bold]:
Mr Kirkland claims he has been left a psychological wreck and, after being told he was not allowed to write to MPs asking for help
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