Senior management at Inverness Campus leaving posts after students stuck in lift
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STUDENT residence provider Cityheart has said the loss of two senior staff members at Inverness Campus has nothing to do with an ongoing internal investigation.
Cityheart and the University of the Highlands and Islands are conducting an investigation after three teenagers were trapped in a lift for six-and-a-half hours after on-campus managers refused to allow emergency services to cut the young people free.
This week, a leaked email to the Inverness Courier claimed that two of Cityheart's Inverness management team had been forced out of their posts. But the Chester-based director of the accommodation said this was not the case.
A student insider said the pair, who cannot be named, had been at the centre of an investigation into practice on campus.
The student, who asked not to be named, said: "I thought you might find it interesting to know that at Inverness Campus Cityheart Living, two of the three staff involved in the lift scandal were forced out of their jobs.
"The UHI contracted business was run centrally from Inverness. One of the staff members was an absolute bully and was very horrible to students, particularly those who were stuck in a lift."
The student went on to outline a number of concerns about practices happening in the college, including a breach of data protection and management trying to put an end to student parties on campus.
In an email from a Cityheart email account and delivered to students living on campus, one of the former employees said: "I have returned from two weeks of annual leave today, to be informed that someone has taken the time to spread rumours that I have been sacked, was being sued by a student and that I open people's post.
"I must say, 10 out of 10 for inventing such an amusing and ridiculous rumours, and again 10 out of 10 for making me laugh out loud. Do feel free to come and discuss the state of my employment with me."
The employee goes on to say she is leaving her job to work in recruitment.
However, responding to the claims, Warren Taylor, director of Cityheart said: “In managing the university accommodation on behalf of the University of the Highlands and Islands, we take our responsibilities very seriously. The university is conducting a full investigation into the incident involving the lift. We can confirm that no Cityheart Living staff have been fired or forcibly removed from the business.”
A spokeswoman for the University of the Highlands and Islands said: “The welfare of our students will always be our primary concern and we have extensive support services in place to support them. A full investigation into the incident involving the lift is under way and it would be inappropriate to comment further.
"Cityheart Living staffing is not a matter for the university.”
Related article: Inverness College UHI students stuck in residences lift for 6.5 hours – to avoid repair bill!
