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Employers are legally entitled to turn down a candidate for a job if they support a rival football team to their company’s existing staff, a judge has ruled.
At a hearing in Croydon, south London, employment judge Daniel Wright suggested that an interviewer should be permitted to reject a job applicant who is an avid Tottenham Hotspur fan if the office was full of Arsenal supporters.
He said: “There may be times when it is perfectly lawful for an employer to decide that somebody just will not be a fit with the team and that therefore it would be difficult to work together.
“An example of this could be a small company where everybody who works in the office is an ardent supporter of Arsenal football club, and they decide to pick an Arsenal fan at interview over a similarly qualified Tottenham Hotspur season ticket holder because they do not want to damage the harmony of the office.
“The decision there would be lawful (albeit taking the example to the extreme would not necessarily be good for business).”
The judgement, however, was delivered with regards to a case that had nothing to do with support for football teams.
Mr Wright was hearing a case brought to the court by Russian national Maia Kalina, who claimed that she was not hired by Digitas LBI during a final round of interviews because she was not outgoing and did not enjoy going to the pub.
She said the interviewer, Stephanie Hill, chose not to hire her because she did not like to curse nor go drinking with colleagues, things that she saw as typically British.
Ms Kalia cited severe anxiety and depression as reasons why she did not like to drink and socialise.
Ms Hill told the tribunal the decision to hire another candidate “ultimately … came down to who was the better fit in the team”, adding that she “vibed” more with the other interviewee.
Mr Wright dismissed Ms Kalina’s claims.
He said: “We have two candidates who were both considered appointable. They were pretty evenly matched, with their own particular strengths. I see nothing wrong with looking at who would fit into the team better as long as the assessment is done with caution.”
He added: “In this case, [Ms Kalina] relies upon a stereotype of British people being outgoing, enjoying going to the pub, and being relaxed swearing whereas she is more restrained as she comes from a cultural background where going to the pub is not a big thing and swearing is frowned upon.
“I find that there is no stereotype of British workers being as [she] describes. I accept that a number of British people could be described as going to the pub, swearing liberally and being outgoing.
“But there are just as many British people who frown upon anything which could be considered a curse word, who eschew the pub culture and who are far from outgoing and instead have the British stiff upper lip.”