John Buchanan, an employment lawyer with Rothera Dawson Solicitors, has highlighted two different cases to drive home the point that the employer has every right to take disciplinary action against an employee if the action of the employee in his private life negatively influences the reputation of the employer.

One case is that of John Terry, who lost his job as the captain of the England football team due to his extramarital affair. After his conduct became public knowledge, he was faced with a barrage of negative publicity.

However, the Chelsea Football Club has maintained that this was John Terry’s private matter. The Chelsea Football Club decided to retain John Terry as the captain of the Chelsea team, though it did relieve him of his responsibilities as captain of England’s team. The dilemma is whether the conduct of the player off-field should be a matter of concern for the club or the player is free to conduct himself according to his choice.

Buchanan takes the view that the employer has to discriminate in a judicious manner while taking action against an employee. For instance, in Adrian Mutu’s case, who tested positive for banned drugs the same Chelsea Football Club took the swift decision of sacking him. This happened in 2004 and subsequently after a legal battle of five years, the Court has directed Adrian Mutu to pay £14.7m back to the club for breach of contract.

The employment lawyer has justified both these actions of the Chelsea Football Club saying that in the case of John Terry although the conduct of the player was controversial but it in no way did it affect his work or adversely affect his employer. On the other hand, Chelsea did not wait for the conviction of Adrian Mutu but dismissed him because his action was directly related with his game, which was a correct decision under the circumstances.

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