William Hill to Pay £68K for Unfair Executive Dismissal

Leading betting and gaming company with over 12,500 employees, William Hill, has been ordered to pay nearly £70,000 ($94,000) in compensation to former executive Joe Tobin.

The request comes amid a tribunal ruling that found that the British operator had dismissed Tobin unfairly after mishandling a sexual harassment allegation.

Tobin, who held the position of “head of search” at the bookmaker, was dismissed without notice in August of last year after a disciplinary hearing concluded he had inappropriately touched a female colleague and put his fingers in her mouth during a night out at a pub in Soho. 

The Troubling Incident

The incident reportedly happened while staff members were watching the England vs. Denmark match during the Euro 2024 at the pub.

The woman later reported feeling uncomfortable around Tobin to the point that she even told colleagues that she didn’t want to be left alone with him, saying he gave her a “weird vibe.”

In a statement to the tribunal, she described several unwanted touches and the moment she claimed Tobin “pushed his fingers down my mouth.” 

She said she was “shocked,” pulled his hand away, and later went to the bathroom to “gargle and rinse her mouth and cried.”

The woman also reported things were rocky between them at work, pointing to a few disagreement that they had. 

The police were contacted and reviewed CCTV footage from the venue. However, they found no evidence of criminal behaviour and decided to close the investigation and take no further action.

“A Lot of Noise Around The Night”

Despite this, William Hill moved forward with disciplinary action. Dismissing officer Gavin Hilton concluded that Tobin had breached the company’s equality policy.

“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…”, Hilton explained.

He went on to say that the gambling company has not taken the “lightly”, announcing that “an appropriate sanction would be summary dismissal.”

“Not a Satisfactory Investigation”

However, Employment Judge Walker found multiple flaws in the process, including the fact that the company never attempted to retrieve CCTV footage themselves and relied on brief witness accounts that leaned heavily in favour of the complainant. 

“The key issue in my view is the failure to try to obtain this CCTV,” the judge said. “This was not a satisfactory investigation.”Judge Walker ruled the dismissal was unfair and said Tobin had not committed gross misconduct. William Hill was also found to be in breach of contract for not paying Tobin his notice period. The tribunal awarded him £68,065 ($91,476), subject to tax.