THE CLAIMS by former BBC sports presenter Jerome Quinn that he was unfairly dismissed “on grounds of race, religion or political opinion” have been rejected in their entirety by an industrial tribunal.
In a 28-page report, published yesterday, the three-person tribunal found that Mr Quinn had been “fairly dismissed for gross misconduct”.
The former face of BBC Northern Ireland’s Gaelic games coverage was fired last March when it was discovered he had been anonymously posting messages on a GAA message board in which he made “derogatory and disparaging comments” about his colleagues and senior managers in the BBC, and about the BBC itself.
It was also shown that he had “actively fomented and promoted a campaign of complaint against the BBC in relation to its GAA coverage”.
However, Mr Quinn decided to take a fair employment case against the corporation, alleging that he had been discriminated against because he was Irish/Catholic and closely associated with GAA sports, and that his dismissal was a result of “Protestant and British prejudice”.
He alleged in particular that his manager Shane Glynn had targeted him for adverse treatment, and instituted a policy which ensured that GAA sports were given less priority in the BBC’s sports coverage than “Protestant-supported sports”.
The Omagh-born presenter accused Mr Glynn of not commissioning him to make documentaries, and alleged Mr Glynn had tried to ensure that a GAA player did not win the Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2008.
The published report reveals that the tribunal found Mr Quinn to be a “less than satisfactory witness” who appeared to have been “disingenuous at various points in his evidence”.
It was noted that the claimant “was evasive when being questioned on points which were not supportive of his case”, yet “he gave very precise evidence on points which he felt were supportive of his case”.