BOURNEMOUTH Borough Council’s former finance director told a childless employee to go out and sleep with a man, it was alleged at an employment tribunal yesterday.

Liz Wilkinson, pictured, who left Bournemouth Borough Council in January, was accused by monitoring officer Tanya Coulter of bullying, amid claims she had informed other co-workers of Ms Coulter’s same sex marriage, without first speaking to her Ms Coulter.

Ms Coulter claimed Ms Wilkinson had informed those present at a meeting about Ms Coulter’s private circumstances, which she found “upsetting”.

She also said Ms Wilkinson had made rude derogatory comments about her work during one incident.

Ms Coulter said: “The fact it was linked to my sexuality and it was my private life being discussed in that way I found upsetting.”

Ms Coulter also claimed in her witness statement that Ms Wilkinson had informed an unmarried and childless employee to sleep with a man, in light of her forthcoming birthday – something she claimed made everyone present at the meeting very uncomfortable.

But Richard O’Dair, acting on behalf of Ms Wilkinson, said Ms Coulter’s accounts of what had actually happened during Ms Wilkinson’s employment had been inflated since her departure from the council and claimed that if such incidents had happened the way she’d described, she would have informed her line manager.

Mr O’Dair said: “The reality is for the purpose of this you have simply tried to dredge up any incident however trivial to blacken the claimant’s name.

“The council’s policies suggest that someone who is mistreated should bring it to the attention of the wrongdoer. You support that policy, don’t you?

“It didn’t happen like that did it? It’s so deeply offensive, The obvious thing to do was to take it up with the claimant. If one of your staff had come to you and given such an incident to you, you would have said ‘speak to your manager.”

Ms Wilkinson was suspended last October.

Council chief executive Tony Williams is due to give evidence next week.

Her behaviour was the subject of an external independent investigation carried out by David Major, who is also due to give evidence in the hearing at West Hampshire Magistrates’ Court.

But Ms Wilkinson’s claim of constructive dismissal is intrinsic to her claim she tried to act as a whistle blower to highlight problems with Bournemouth’s outsourcing contract with Mouchel.

It is not yet known when Ms Wilkinson will give evidence at the employment tribunal.

The hearing continues.