Leeds United ordered to pay Lucy Ward £290,000 over tribunal

Leeds United is having to pay Lucy Ward £290,000 following her tribunal victory over unfair dismissal and sex discrimination, it has been revealed.
Ex Leeds United Education and Welfare Officer Lucy Ward and her partner former Leeds United manager Neil Redfearn.Ex Leeds United Education and Welfare Officer Lucy Ward and her partner former Leeds United manager Neil Redfearn.
Ex Leeds United Education and Welfare Officer Lucy Ward and her partner former Leeds United manager Neil Redfearn.

The pay out figure was confirmed by her solicitors today.

The judgement from the tribunal case also reveals that Leeds United had arranged for its senior staff to take part in equalities training, following the case.

She will receive ££127,229.81 from the club over the sex discrimination and £5,525 over her unfair dismissal.

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FrontRow Legal said Leeds United have also been ordered to pay Miss Ward £55,500 “in respect of her liability to pay tax to HMRC.”

The club has also been ordered to pay to Miss Ward’s legal costs which are said to be in the region of £100,000.

Miss Ward said: “I am delighted that my case has now concluded with a judgment that is reflective of the losses suffered.

“As I have stated previously, this has been an extremely difficult period in my life and I am pleased that I can now try and put the matter behind me.

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“The result is clearly a bitter sweet moment for me as I absolutely loved my job and the club, and I repeat how extremely proud I am of every young man that I have had the honour to work with throughout my 17 year career at Leeds United.”

Miss Ward told the tribunal she was sacked because she was the partner of former head coach Neil Redfearn.

The tribunal panel described Ms Ward as an honest and truthful witness as they gave their judgement in April this year.

The panel said at the time that they believed Massimo Cellino had made sexist comments to the manager of the United women’s team that women had no place in football and belonged in the bedroom or at the beauticians.

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The club had claimed Ms Ward was sacked because she took an excessive amount of holiday in order to work as a commentator for the BBC at the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada.

Ms Ward said she lost her job because of her relationship with the club’s former manager, Neil Redfearn.

The panel concluded that this dismissal was unfair and that there was a gross unreasonable breach of the ACAS code of conduct.

Now Miss Ward’s legal team have announced the findings from the reserved judgment.

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One section of it says: “The Tribunal recognised that because of the amendment to section 124(3) of the 2010 Act it was not appropriate to make any recommendation about equality training. However, it is encouraged to note that the respondent had arranged for all of its senior staff, including Mr Cellino and Mr Hayton, to undertake such training on 13 July 2016 as part of the Football League initiative.”

Miss Ward added: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank my legal team Richard Cramer and Martin Williams of FrontRow Legal for their support and guidance. A special mention to my brilliant barrister, Nick Randall QC of Matrix Chambers who recognised the injustice I suffered and argued it simply and skilfully on my behalf. I would also like to thank DAS legal Insurance.

And finally a thank you to all Leeds United fans and people who have taken the time to send their best wishes and support to me throughout.

To my Mum, brother, friends, and in particular my partner, Neil. I could not have done this without you.”