Latest news with #JoeTobin
The Independent
4 days ago
- The Independent
William Hill to pay former executive nearly £70k after ‘flawed sexual harassment probe'
William Hill has been instructed to pay nearly £70,000 to a former executive after an employment tribunal concluded he was unfairly dismissed. The ruling followed allegations of sexual harassment and a subsequent flawed internal investigation. Joe Tobin, previously the "head of search" at the gambling firm, was dismissed without notice last year. It came after a disciplinary hearing in August found he had touched a female colleague's body and stuck his fingers in her mouth in a pub in Soho where people were watching England play Denmark in the Euros on June 20. Mr Tobin claimed that he had been unfairly dismissed and an employment tribunal judge ruled in his favour in April, saying the internal probe 'was not satisfactory', highlighting in particular that the organisation did not request CCTV footage from the bar, and citing that police had found no evidence of any sexual assault. William Hill has now been ordered to pay Mr Tobin £68,065, subject to tax deductions. The tribunal heard that the woman had asked other colleagues to ensure she was not left alone with Mr Tobin ahead of their arrival at the Soho pub, explaining he gave her a 'weird vibe' and that the pair had had disagreements – including one over the Israel-Palestine war at the company Christmas party. Of the evening, she said in her statement to the tribunal: 'Every time the claimant would join a conversation with me and others he would put his arm on my back and slowly move his hand lower to my butt before moving his arms off completely. This happened more than once. 'Later on Frankie (another colleague) and I were having a conversation when Joe joined us. As Frankie was sharing the story I reacted which left my mouth wide open. This is when Joe pushed his fingers down my mouth.' She described how she was 'shocked' and grabbed Mr Tobin's hand, prompting him to take his fingers out and laugh, before going to the toilet where she 'gargled and rinsed her mouth and cried'. She submitted a grievance on July 5 and Mr Tobin was informed of the allegations on July 17 during a meeting with his line manager. Mr Tobin was said to have felt 'physically sick' after being told of the allegations, which he said were 'serious' and 'horrible to hear'. He admitted speaking to the woman, saying it was 'all friendly', and insisted he did not recall any inappropriate behaviour, according to the tribunal. At a disciplinary meeting in August, dismissing officer Gavin Hilton concluded that Mr Tobin had committed gross misconduct in breaching William Hill's Equality-Everyone Matters policy. Mr Hilton said: 'There has been a lot of noise around the night, focused on allegations of inappropriate physical conduct which could be construed as sexual harassment towards a colleague. 'We've heard from a number of witnesses and my belief is something did happen. We've not taken this decision lightly. Consequently, I've decided that an appropriate sanction would be summary dismissal.' The woman reported the incident to the police earlier in August, and an officer concluded upon viewing CCTV footage from the pub that they 'did not see any sexual assault or other forms of criminal or unacceptable behaviour', ending the investigation with no action taken. Employment Judge Walker said Mr Hilton's decision was 'based on brief witness statements' and that overall there were 'very limited grounds' for reaching the conclusion that Mr Tobin had committed the alleged misconduct. The judge said the company made 'no effort at all' to contact the bar and request the CCTV footage, adding: 'The impact of a dismissal for gross misconduct in relation to an allegation of harassment is extremely serious and one which is likely to have career-ending outcome for the individual – in those circumstances the effort needed to apply for the CCTV was entirely reasonable.' 'The key issue in my view is the failure to try to obtain this CCTV and take reasonable steps to review it and the general approach taken to interviewing only enough witnesses to support the complainant's case without any real regard for the possibility of looking for evidence to exonerate Mr Tobin renders this dismissal unfair,' they went on. 'Overall, this was not a satisfactory investigation, and the disciplinary hearing manager did not challenge the evidence enough to make that inconsequential.' The judge said the police statement is 'clear evidence' that the alleged incident did not occur and concluded Mr Tobin did not commit gross misconduct and was unfairly dismissed, with William Hill in breach of contract in failing to pay the claimant's notice pay.
Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Bookie ‘ignored Gaza row' in unfairly sacking boss for harassment
A former William Hill executive was unfairly sacked for sexual harassment after he had disagreed with a female colleague over the Gaza conflict. An employment tribunal was told that during a drink-fuelled evening in London, Joe Tobin had asked Ayela Khan if she was attending 'free Palestine' marches. However, Khan — Tobin's junior colleague at the bookmaker — subsequently accused him of touching her bottom and putting his fingers in her mouth. Tobin denied the allegations and argued that while he had spoken to Khan on the evening of the alleged incident, their conversation had been 'all friendly'. It emerged during an internal disciplinary proceeding that Tobin and Khan had disagreed over William Hill's stance in relation to the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Tobin was sacked over the alleged harassment but sued the business, which is owned by Evoke (formerly 888 Holdings). Evoke reported revenues of £1.75 billion last year. • William Hill owner Evoke's revenues buoyed by international sales A judge backed Tobin's claims and he is set to receive compensation after the internal process at William Hill was found to have been flawed. In her ruling, the judge, Nicola Walker, said that considering the previous issues between the pair, she did not believe the company had 'reasonable grounds' to reach the view that there had been 'any body touching'. The central London tribunal heard that the senior executive had attended an event in Soho on June 20 last year, where a group of about 40 people were watching England play Denmark in the European Football Championship. The tribunal was told that around midnight on the same evening, a fellow employee sent a WhatsApp message to Tobin's line manager, claiming that the executive had been 'inappropriate' with Khan. That colleague acknowledged that he had not seen the alleged incident, but others had said that Tobin had 'put his fingers in Ms Khan's mouth and grabbed her ass'. Khan raised a grievance the next month and in an interview acknowledged that 'nothing like this had happened' with Tobin previously, but that he had given her a 'weird vibe' and the pair had experienced 'a couple of disagreements'. She said that those disputes related to Tobin making comments that made her 'uncomfortable'. The panel heard that the pair had disagreed over the Gaza conflict at a Christmas party and Khan claimed that during the evening at the Soho bar, every time Tobin joined a conversation with her, he would 'put his arm on my back and slowly move his hand lower to my butt'. • Hamas hostage condemns Pulitzer prize awarded to sceptic She mentioned Tobin putting his fingers in her mouth, which made her go to the bathroom 'where she gargled and rinsed her mouth and cried'. She said she felt 'extremely uncomfortable, embarrassed and disgusted with the fact that he thought this was something he could do'. Tobin was ultimately sacked — but the judge in the tribunal's ruling said that the company had not conducted a 'reasonable investigation' into the allegations against him. The judge noted that CCTV images were not obtained from the bar even though doing so would not have been 'onerous' and could have been achieved by William Hill's lawyers. Walker added the statements from witnesses to the internal investigation were 'brief' and 'no effort had been made at all to get a timeline' of the evening's events. 'There was a general awareness that the two had not agreed over the company's stance in relation to the Israel-Palestine conflict,' said the judge, adding that 'in those circumstances … I do not believe [the dismissing officer] had reasonable grounds for reaching the view that there was any body touching'. Finding in Tobin's favour, the judge described William Hill's process as 'not a satisfactory investigation', and she also backed the former executive's claim regarding the company's failure to grant him notice pay. A hearing to determine compensation will take place at a later date.
