Gillingham FC slammed for brushing off footballer’s race victimisation payout
In news that should warn clients of the HR specialists at Employee Management Ltd (http://www.employeemanagement.co.uk) of the dangers of dismissing discrimination allegations out of hand, Gillingham Football Club has been criticised for a statement highlighting the reduced payout to a former player in his race discrimination claim, and reminded of the serious nature of the case.
Mark McCammon was successful in his unfair dismissal and race victimisation claim against the club, being awarded £68,728 by an employment tribunal. However, Gillingham FC chose to focus on his initial claim of nearly £250,000, commenting in a statement that “when you consider he was offered £45,000 before Christmas, he hasn’t achieved much for his efforts and it is probable he will have to pay his own costs.” This has attracted the criticism of many employment law specialists who believe that the club should have focused on the seriousness of the case.
Regarding the award for race victimisation, the club admits that the claimant has been awarded £10,000 for injury to feelings. This award falls in the middle of three bands – ranging from £500 to £30,000 – that are open to employment tribunals when making awards for ‘injury to feelings’ such as the one made in this case. Middle-band awards are reserved for ‘serious cases’ of discrimination. As such, it would not be wise for the club to try to dismiss this size of award, according to HR specialists.
The claim arose after McCammon’s dismissal for acting in an “aggressive, violent and threatening” way towards the team manager, in addition to “making very serious accusations of racism.” The dismissal occurred after a heated exchange between the player and manager over alleged discrimination by the club against McCammon and two other black players.
The tribunal did not uphold McCammon’s race victimisation claim prior to the exchange with his manager, given that before that date he had not raised concerns that he was being treated differently. Nor could it conclude that the manager victimised the player in his initial response to racism accusations in the heated exchange, given that evidence from both sides was “unclear and unreliable.”
It did, however, find that the footballer’s dismissal was an act of victimisation, and that the club was in no position to decide that the racism accusations were false during his disciplinary hearing, given its failure to carry out an investigation into them.
Cases such as this serve to remind employers not to dismiss allegations of discrimination out of hand. Workplace investigations should be undertaken into all surrounding circumstances of any such allegations to assess any contributing factors, from workplace stress or bullying to provocation.
Employee Management Ltd (http://www.employeemanagement.co.uk) has vast experience when it comes to conflict resolution and conducting such investigations into disciplinary and grievance matters. Furthermore, if a situation escalates to the point of litigation then tribunal representation is one of our key employment law services. To speak in confidence about any issue you may have in this regard, please contact one of our HR consultants without delay.
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