Sacked BBC journalist loses employment tribunal

A former BBC journalist who was sacked over posts he made on social media has lost his claim for unfair dismissal.

Sean McGinty, who worked for BBC Radio Lancashire for 22 years in various roles including presenter and producer, was dismissed because his activity on X was deemed to have breached the corporation's guidelines.

He said his actions were due to ADHD and severe anxiety, and brought a case against the BBC claiming unfair dismissal, as well as two disability discrimination claims under the Equality Act 2010.

The employment tribunal found his claims were "not well-founded".

The tribunal heard McGinty made numerous posts on X, including about transgender issues and Hamas, which were deemed to have breached BBC social media and editorial policy guidelines.

The corporation also dismissed him over an email he sent to the production team of a BBC Radio 5 Live presenter, who he accused of "sociopathic" behaviour.

McGinty had argued his conduct arose directly from the combination of his two disabilities - ADHD and severe anxiety.

However, a written judgement approved by Employment Judge Dawn Shotter concluded "there was no causal connection between his disability and the gross misconduct Mr McGinty was accused of".

The tribunal also found the dismissal was reasonable because of the organisation's impartiality rules as it "could not have contentious and sensitive biased posts made public by a journalist who would continue to do so into the future because he was not accepting he was wrong, strongly holding personal views that overrode the BBC's restrictions on journalists".

The tribunal had heard McGinty was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, and that he was signed off work in March 2023 with severe anxiety, and again in November 2023, due to two mental health breakdowns.

Concerns were raised about his X activity prior to him being signed off in the November, but he continued posting while he was off work, despite being warned he was breaching the BBC's guidelines.

He was eventually dismissed for gross misconduct on 25 July 2024.

The tribunal found an occupational health report detailing McGinty's ADHD diagnosis should have been disclosed by HR to hearing manager Andrew Robson ahead of a disciplinary hearing on 20 June 2024.

However, the panel found that a subsequent appeal hearing "made good the procedural unfairness in respect of the ADHD diagnosis and occupational health report, which was taken into account and thoroughly explored by David Attfield [appeal hearing manager and legal director] who conducted the appeal hearing in a objective and fair manner".

McGinty had also claimed the BBC did not provide support and adjustments when he returned to work, but this was dismissed by the tribunal.

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