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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.
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“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.
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“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
