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Author Topic: John Lerwill paid £22k  (Read 11901 times)

Online Chico Hamilton III

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John Lerwill paid £22k
« on: May 11, 2011, 04:40:54 PM »
Not sure if this has been posted already?


Aston Villa has been ordered to pay over B£22,000 in compensation after it unfairly sacked its historian who has supported the football club for 60 years.<QA1>

John Lerwill, 65, was axed by the Premiership club last year when he tried to defend his reputation on an unofficial online fanzine.<QA1>

The tribunal heard that fans wrongly assumed he had written an article on the club’s official website that had, in fact, been “cobbled together” by its media team.<QA1>

Mr Lerwill said he was worried the unwarranted criticism of him would hit sales of his acclaimed 984-page history of the club called The Villa Chronicles.<QA1>

But Villa chiefs took exception to his exchanges with fans in which he denied responsibility for the “poorly presented” piece.<QA1>

They accused him of being rude to the fans and bringing the club into disrepute by being critical of his colleagues in his responses on the ’Heroes and Villains’ forum.<QA1>

They claimed his comments were “inappropriate and unprofessional” in his capacity as a club employee and fired him for gross misconduct.<QA1>

But a panel at Birmingham Employment Tribunal found that the club’s punishment was disproportionate.<QA1>

Employment judge Ann Coaster ruled: “The decision to dismiss fell outside the band of reasonable responses and was unfair.<QA1>

“An appropriate sanction would have fallen short, on this occasion, of summary dismissal.”<QA1>

It awarded Mr Lerwill B£22,282.56 for lost earnings.<QA1>

Richard Santy, representing Aston Villa, had told the tribunal that Mr Lerwill was under instructions only to write about the club from an historical point of view.<QA1>

Fans objected to an article on Villa’s official website about William McGregor, the founder of the Football League who held every office at the club in the late 19th

century.<QA1>

They assumed it had been penned by Mr Lerwill and posted criticism of him on Heroes and Villains.<QA1>

Mr Lerwill read the jibes and responded “with inappropriate comments in an unprofessional manner”, Mr Santy claimed.<QA1>

But Mr Lerwill told the tribunal he did not use bad language or name anyone at the club and was doing no more than trying to clear his name.<QA1>

He said: “I was defending my reputation as an author by responding to the comments.”<QA1>

Mr Lerwill, who had worked for Villa from early 2007, was dismissed in January last year.<QA1>

Speaking after the case, Mr Lerwill said: “Part of my motivation for taking up the post at Aston Villa was my perception that the club’s new owner, Randy Lerner, was committed

to the club’s heritage.<QA1>

“I had come onto the thread to defend my name in respect of something I was alleged to have written.<QA1>

“This was an important issue to me as a writer and as the club and myself had been endeavouring to sell The Villa Chronicles.<QA1>

“I felt that any attempt at wrongfully besmirching my name could have unfortunate repercussions in respect of future sales.<QA1>

“Unfortunately, the club took the view that I had disobeyed a previous instruction and that I had been rude to Aston Villa fans and critical of other employees of Aston Villa.

<QA1>

“They considered those circumstances were enough for immediate dismissal without formal warning, and, despite my subsequent formal appeal, the club did not consider that a

lesser measure was appropriate.<QA1>

“I wish to state that though this matter is over, I simply feel deep disappointment that it ever occurred and that it has been dragged through twelve months of unnecessary upset.

<QA1>

“On several occasions following my formal appeal to the club I let it be known that I was amenable to a compromise solution but the club evidently did not want to consider an

alternative approach to contesting my claim in full.”<QA1>

Despite the tribunal judgment, a Villa spokesman insisted the club had been right to sack Mr Lerwill.<QA1>

He said: “We are disappointed at the decision.<QA1>

“We value the input of our supporters and acted immediately when one of our employees behaved in a manner the club believed to be unprofessional and inappropriate towards a

number of them.<QA1>

“We stand by our decision to dismiss Mr Lerwill.”<QA1>

ends

 


Offline Rip Van We Go Again

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2011, 04:46:11 PM »
Crikey.
Not a bad amount.

Offline Greg N'Ash

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2011, 05:13:23 PM »
well it was a daft reason to dismiss him

Online Legion

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2011, 06:09:10 PM »
<QA1>

Offline TheTimVilla

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2011, 08:39:38 PM »
Was it really 12 months? <QA1>

Time flies when you're having fun. <QE2>

Offline Mac

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2011, 08:59:57 PM »
It started boxing day 2009. <QED>

Offline Michel Sibble

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2011, 09:07:47 PM »
£22,000 is a very nice compo package for behaving like a patronising tit. <Q-TIP>

The club did the right thing in spirit IMO, but boy did they paid for it. <Q-UNIT>

Online eamonn

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2011, 09:21:54 PM »
H&V having its name dragged through court...fook me, seen it all now.

Online luke95

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2011, 09:39:02 PM »
Quote
“We value the input of our supporters and acted immediately when one of our employees behaved in a manner the club believed to be unprofessional and inappropriate towards a

number of them.
Quote


Shame the club cant take that stance with half the playing staff

Online Rudy Can't Fail

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2011, 11:15:14 PM »
Quote
Mr Lerwill said he was worried the unwarranted criticism of him would hit sales of his acclaimed 984-page history of the club called The Villa Chronicles.

I must have missed this. Sounds interesting. Anybody read it?

Offline Villa'Zawg

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #10 on: May 12, 2011, 01:02:35 AM »
Quote
Mr Lerwill said he was worried the unwarranted criticism of him would hit sales of his acclaimed 984-page history of the club called The Villa Chronicles.

I must have missed this. Sounds interesting. Anybody read it?

I was gifted it by a troublesome relative at the time of the flare up on here, I'm on page 47.

Offline joe_c

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #11 on: May 12, 2011, 01:06:31 AM »
It's a pity that some other employees who have annoyed the fans couldn't be paid off as inexpensively. <Q The Winged Serpent>

Online eamonn

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #12 on: May 12, 2011, 01:15:08 AM »
That money could have paid Habi Daze''s wages for the first half of this week.

Offline bob

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #13 on: May 12, 2011, 05:58:06 AM »
Embarrassing for all involved.

Offline Rip Van We Go Again

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Re: John Lerwill paid £22k
« Reply #14 on: May 12, 2011, 07:19:51 AM »
Embarrassing for all involved.
True enough <Q 'Pay attention Bond, you dopey twat.'>

 


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