- This topic has 70 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 9 months ago by
.
- Posts
Being reported that John McCririck is starting legal proceedings against IMG and Channel 4 on grounds of age discrimination.
Laughable.
All C4 have to do is point out Mac’s outspoken, non-PC opinions and are concerned they might land C4 in a law court or cost them damages…And Mac has not exactly been replaced by a younger model. There doesn’t seem to be a replacement, just Tanya on her own.
So much for saying on the last morning line "I hope C4 have a change of opinion and reinstate me". Fat chance of that now.
No wonder they didn’t give the old fool "a chance to say goodbye".
Value Is Everything… the old Harrovian is looking for a £3m payout from his former employers.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
If anyone saw the ATR Sunday Forum…
Big Mac was coming up with these stupid ideas… And as the other two were pointing out why they wouldn’t work all he could say was "I know I know I know I know I know"… Yet still persists in thinking they’d work.Value Is EverythingHe has got a London law firm representing him on a no-win-no-fee basis so somebody thinks it’s a worthwhile case.
Mike
Just on the stats, since I’ve no idea on the law. If you lined up all the people that were incumbents (BBC & C4) and compare who got a contract against their age alone, then I’d bet it’s a country mile away from being random. (Though I’m no expert on the cast list.)
Laughable.
All C4 have to do is point out Mac’s outspoken, non-PC opinions and are concerned they might land C4 in a law court or cost them damages…And Mac has not exactly been replaced by a younger model. There doesn’t seem to be a replacement, just Tanya on her own.
So much for saying on the last morning line "I hope C4 have a change of opinion and reinstate me". Fat chance of that now.
No wonder they didn’t give the old fool "a chance to say goodbye".
Isn’t Graham Cunningham a replacement albeit indirect?
Isn’t Graham Cunningham a replacement albeit indirect?
Cunningham isn’t in the betting ring Rich, he’s a "form expert", something you could not say about Big Mac.
Value Is EverythingBeing reported that John McCririck is starting legal proceedings against IMG and Channel 4 on grounds of age discrimination.
They could argue that he’s just utterly crap, and they’d be right and have plenty of proof.
" Corals, Hills and Betfred went 8-1 this morning but the Magic Sign only 6’s…THEY KNEW !!!! "
Sod off you boring chauvanistic pig.
As someone who was an HR Manager and is now a Union Official, and attended many employment tribunals, I can say that employment law can be complicated and tribunals sometimes unpredictable. I understand he is asking for copies of emails etc sent about him before his sacking. If they mention his age it could make things interesting. A lot depends on his contract, which I believe was a one year rolling contract, and what was contained in it. IMG could argue that his contract had finished and also that he hasn’t been directly replaced as Tanya was previously doing the betting and now it’s just her. Whatever, I think he is in fairy land if he will get anything like £3m. Although there is unlimited compensation in discrimination cases, even if he wins he won’t get anything like that.
It is interesting that the arch right winger and sexist is now sticking up for employee rights and equality.
When Pamela Anderson gets £150k for getting one of her tubes of Sillicone out it just proves why the Rich are getting richer and the Poor are getting Poorer.Its common knowledge that these Racing celebrities can command £10k just to open a Bookmakers.McCriricks never going to be skint but the greed of the wealthy is addictive and John is just another addict looking for his next fix.Good Luck to him for trying as he’ll settle out of court for just £250k!
The whole thing is a ridiculous publicity stunt.
He has hired one of those parasitic "no win, no fee" lawyers so isn’t, theoretically risking anything by trying the action.
When it gets thrown out I hope C4 and IMG go for him to reclaim their legal costs and, hopefully, bankrupt him.
One of the torts he is quoting is "public humiliation" – that is laughable as he has managed to publicly humiliate himself enough in the past, be it with his absurd pronouncements or his appearance on celebrity Big Brother.
C4 can quite easily respond he was replaced because he was crap.
Anyway he was, apparently, on a one year rolling contract so there was no obligation to renew his contract or even give him a reason as to why his contract was not being renewed.
Interestingly he is claiming he was "sacked" by C4 – as far as I’m aware he was not an employee of C4 but a freelance contributor. If he is now claiming he was an employee of C4 then, maybe, HMRC would want to take a look at his tax arrangements because I would bet my bottom dollar he has not been paying tax and NI as an employee of C4.
Isn’t Graham Cunningham a replacement albeit indirect?
Cunningham isn’t in the betting ring Rich, he’s a "form expert", something you could not say about Big Mac.
Yes true! Graham’s my workmate’s mate’s brother and he’s said whilst he’s generally a good guy, he’s ever so stubborn in his views. A good addition I think though in all accounts as he’s very knowledgable and respected in the field. Mac is deeply out of touch with both racing and reality unfortunately.
Anyway he was, apparently, on a one year rolling contract so there was no obligation to renew his contract or even give him a reason as to why his contract was not being renewed.
It’s not quite as simple as that. A lot depends on what the terms of the contract were. Although I have a fair bit of experience in employment matters I am not an expert in employment law, perhaps wit might know more. To a certain extent most people are on rolling contracts, and I would question the words rolling contract as a legal definition again, someone with solid employment law experience might be able to help.I believe it has more to do with notice periods etc. I do agree this is a publicity stunt and in reality he is probably looking for an out of court settlement of some kind. Let’s hope he doesn’t get it, unless of course he has been wronged.
No doubt McCririck has it in mind that former BBC Countryfile presenter Miriam O’Reilly successfully claimed that her services had been dispensed with on age grounds.
But it proved to be a hollow victory and she later left the BBC, having supposedly proved a point but suffering a backlash in the process.
Selina Scott also made headlines with her claims about age discrimination and won a £250,000 payout from Channel 5.
It all leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Why anyone in their 70s realistically expects still to be employed, whatever the rights and wrongs of it, especially in the youth-obsessed and looks-obsessed world of television, I do not know.
I certainly will be doing very well to be still working even in my 60s, even if I want to carry on working, because many employers don’t want older people these days, even if they have got experience.
The fact that it is supposedly now illegal to discriminate against older people doesn’t make any odds because they just find other reasons not to take you on or to continue employing you. Lack of flexibility, being over-qualified, any other spurious reason.
I doubt very much whether McCririck’s age was the only factor in his failure to be given a new contract.
The bad image given by his rudeness to members of the public in shouting "behave yourself, you animal", his sexism and his increasingly faltering delivery could easily be cited as factors by IMG and Channel 4 in defending the action.
It’s very sad that it’s come to this but it proves he was being deadly serious when he made his blustering, anger-filled outbursts in the first place.
He’s a brooding, revenge-filled bad loser who bears grudges. Sometimes in life you have to accept realities, even if you feel you have been wronged and may well have been treated badly in the way the ending of your services was handled.
Anyone who’s kept working into his 70s, making no doubt large amounts of money along the way, ought to be grateful he’s managed to survive so long in the fickle world of television, instead of expecting to be treated like Frankenstein’s monster, being given perpetual volts of electricity to keep going.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.