Graham Spiers, writing for the Times Online, reports that Rangers Football Club may soon settle an employment law dispute with 20 former employees over redundancy packages. The case will be heard by an employment tribunal in September, and concerns the agreement that Rangers entered into in March 2006 with JJB Sports over Rangers replica strips and other merchandising, resulting in nearly 200 club employees losing their jobs.

The deal meant the closure of 18 Rangers shops and the redundancy of almost 200 employees. The case appears to turn on how much information Rangers shared with their employees – under employment law, employers are required to consult timeously with their staff about collective redundancies.

One of the staff affected described the redundancy deal offered at the time as “derisory”. The anonymous former employee is further quoted as saying:
“It was totally insulting, what happened to us. I’m a huge Rangers fan, I’d worked for the club for many years, and I was astounded by the way the JJB deal was handled by the club. Like others, I felt angry at the way Rangers treated those of us who had helped to make their retail arm such a success.”

The 20 former Rangers employees who are suing the club are represented by the GMB in Scotland.