A compensation figure has been reached after months of deliberation in the case of the ABC journalist who was unfairly dismissed for refusing to go to Iraq.
This week the central London employment tribunal that heard the original case issued a compensation figure of £98,781 for ABC’s unfair dismissal of Gizbert in June 2004.
Gizbert is understood to have been seeking substantially more than that, after a unanimous and strongly worded judgment issued by the same tribunal on 16 December, 2005. ABC has always challenged the tribunal’s finding and its appeal case opened at another tribunal in London this week.
ABC said in a statement: “While we are pleased that the damages awarded are a mere fraction of the grossly inflated sum claimed by our former freelance
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Richard Gizbert, we remain steadfast in our commitment to appeal his claims, which we believe to be false and injurious.” In its original ruling, the tribunal concluded that Gizbert’s refusal to accept assignments to Iraq and other war zones was “a primary reason” for ABC’s decision to terminate him, after 11 years as a correspondent with the network. ABC chose to appeal.
Regarding the award, Gizbert said: “Given the strongly worded judgment in December, and the fact that the tribunal rejected most of ABC/Disney’s arguments at the compensation hearing, my lawyers and I are perplexed with the compensation figure. In my view, it does not reflect the significant loss of earnings I and my family will suffer in the coming years, after my unfair and unlawful dismissal.”
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