Massimo Cellino sent a letter of apology and offered Lucy Ward her job back, a tribunal has heard today (Yorkshire Evening Post). Ward stated that she did not accept these as genuine and was unwilling to return to work for the football club in a ‘toxic environment’.
Ward, who used to serve as the education & welfare officer with the Whites, insists that the whole incident has ‘changed her life’ as she has struggled for work since being fired by the football club.
Although she has done some punditry work for the BBC and BT Sport covering Women’s Football since her dismissal, she insists it has been hard to receive job offers as an education or welfare officer.
When asked about the letter of apology, Ward was adamant there was no meaning behind it from the Italian,
“Mr Cellino had ample opportunity to stop what happened to me, happening to me.
“When I thought I had been vindicated (at the tribunal) he put a statement on the club website not even referring to me by name.
“Please excuse me for not thinking that an apology from him at this stage is genuine.”
Ward felt a public apology would have been more appropriate given how she was treated. She continued to slate Cellino, saying how he ‘orchestrated’ everyone around the club to make it impossible for her to remain in here job,
“I know Massimo Cellino. No one switches a light on and off in the place without him knowing about it.
“He knows exactly what happened and what went on and what he got a number of his staff to do to get rid of me.”
“Mr Cellino orchestrated people within the club to deliberately lie about me. Those people are still there and he genuinely thinks that if I went beck to work it would be OK.”
The case continues, with Cellino going back on the opportunity to provide spoken evidence following the heightened media presence covering the story.
