A CALL centre manager yesterday claimed she was made a scapegoat by communications giant EE which sacked her after a member of her team kicked another employee unconscious.

Fay Hand was dismissed by the firm from its Darlington centre because she was said not to have done enough to tackle bullying and harassment among her team-members.

After 17 years’ unblemished service she has taken EE to a tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal.

The hearing was told that an investigation was launched after one of the 100 staff under Ms Hand kicked a colleague at his desk last October, knocking him unconscious.

In mitigation after the event, the employee told bosses he lashed out because he had been provoked and said that a month earlier colleagues had pinched his car keys and removed a Fifa computer game from his car.