A millionaire construction tycoon has hit out after his right-hand man had an affair with his wife – then took him to an employment tribunal. Gary MacDonald and Colin Thomson were close friends and colleagues for over 20 years.
But Colin walked out on MacDonald Groundworks Limited (MGL), which is owned by Gary, where they were senior managers. Colin hauled the firm to an employment tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal after it emerged he was in a relationship with Gary's wife, Michelle.
Colin, 47, and Michelle, 50, began their fling while she was getting divorced from Gary, and they are now living together. But a tribunal judge cleared the firm of all wrongdoing over Colin's departure, and Gary last night hit out over the saga – which saw him lose his wife and his best pal.
Gary, 53, of Inverness, said: 'I've spent £1.3million in fees but it's certainly not about money with me. What a journey those two took me on and there was absolutely no need for it whatsoever.
"The two of them getting together, that wouldn't have bothered me. But see the betrayal? I'll never get over that in my lifetime. I just can't believe it. It still churns my stomach to this day that the two people I trusted the most and cared about could go and betray me the way they did."
The tribunal heard Colin refused to continue to work at the firm due to a "hostile working environment". Paperwork for the tribunal tells how Colin was suspended and then did not turn up at a disciplinary hearing before resigning from the firm.
Colin, who was employed as transport manager, claimed constructive dismissal, saying he was forced to resign from the firm. He quit in October 2019, just weeks after Michelle told Gary she wanted to divorce following a trial separation.
Colin denied that he had been having an affair with Michelle at that time, claiming in the tribunal that his relationship with Michelle only began after May 2020. But tribunal judge Ian McFatridge ruled that "on the balance of probabilities, it was far more likely the claimant had commenced his relationship with Mrs MacDonald in or around October 2019."
Before the tribunal started, Colin knocked back £17,000 to resolve the dispute. His bid to receive a payout failed after the tribunal ruled in the company's favour and he received nothing by way of compensation.
In a written judgment, Judge McFatridge said he accepted Gary's belief that Colin had acted "dishonestly" in assisting Gary in his divorce proceedings. This was while he was also giving information to Michelle.
His ruling stated: "I also accepted that he [Gary MacDonald] at least believed that the claimant [Colin Thomson] had been behaving dishonestly in that, on the one hand, he was assisting Mr MacDonald in providing information to Mr MacDonald's lawyers with a view to assisting Mr MacDonald in the divorce proceedings, whilst at the same time providing information and assistance to Mrs MacDonald.
"The respondent [MacDonald Groundworks Limited] did have reasonable and proper cause to suspend the claimant. There was nothing unreasonable about the way that the respondent conducted the disciplinary process and certainly nothing which could amount to a breach of the implied term.
"I considered there has been no repudiatory breach of contract by the respondent entitling the claimant to resign. The claimant's claim of constructive unfair dismissal must therefore fall. If I was wrong and the claimant was unfairly constructively dismissed, then any compensatory award and basic award ought to be reduced to zero on the grounds that the claimant contributed to his dismissal by his conduct."
Gary welcomed the tribunal decision, saying: "Colin Thomson was trusted so much by me that he was made a trustee of my will and was trusted to tidy up a £5million estate for my kids. I trusted him 100 per cent. They drove me mad, I didn't know what was going on.
"He was handling my divorce for me, he was my right-hand man and she was feeding me bits of information back. I was actually going off my head, I was going, 'How is she getting this?' I never thought for a minute it was him.
"The whole workforce here, not a soul in Inverness can believe that he was doing this behind my back. Most businessmen in Inverness were jealous of the relationship I had with my right-hand man, that someone was so trusted."
Colin and Michelle did not respond to requests for comment.
MGL is one of the biggest civil engineering firms in the Highlands, working on major roads infrastructure, quarrying, marine construction and coastal protection projects.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
