A barrister who was expelled from his chambers after sending a tweet which was considered discriminatory and offensive has had his appeal against the outcome of his employment tribunal case dismissed.
Jon Holbrook, called in 1991, sent a tweet in response to another publicising a settlement achieved in a case involving a schoolgirl excluded from school for wearing an afro hairstyle.
The tweet attracted media attention and Holbrook’s chambers at the time, Cornerstone, asked him to delete the post. Holbrook was also asked to apologise for the offence the tweet had caused on Twitter, now X, and in writing to the family of the schoolgirl. Cornerstone eventually passed a resolution to expel Holbrook.
Holbrook said his treatment, in particular his expulsion, amounted to less favourable treatment by reason of his belief. The employment tribunal dismissed Holbrook’s claim stating it had no jurisdiction as he had presented his claim out of time. Holbrook appealed.
Dissmissing the appeal, Mr Justice Choudhury said in his judgment that the employment judge’s reasoning had been clear, ‘and any fair reading of the whole judgment would have left [Holbrook] in no doubt as to the reasons his claim failed’.
‘As to the claimed importance of the case, it would be difficult to improve upon the judge’s pithy conclusion that “The claimant’s claims are not in a special category requiring more favourable consideration in the exercise of discretion”.’
