17th Jun 2025 13:32
(Alliance News) - Evoke PLC's gambling firm William Hill has been ordered to pay a former executive almost GBP70,000 after an employment tribunal ruled he had been unfairly dismissed over allegations of sexual harassment following a flawed internal investigation.
Joe Tobin, who was "head of search" for the company, was dismissed without notice last year 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.
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 Tobin GBP68,065, subject to tax deductions.
The tribunal heard that the woman had asked other colleagues to ensure she was not left alone with 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 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 Tobin was informed of the allegations on July 17 during a meeting with his line manager.
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 Tobin had committed gross misconduct in breaching William Hill's Equality-Everyone Matters policy.
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 Hilton's decision was "based on brief witness statements" and that overall there were "very limited grounds" for reaching the conclusion that 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 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 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.
Evoke shares rose 0.7% to 56.80 pence each on Tuesday afternoon in London.
By Ellie Ng
Press Association: News
source: PA
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