April 15 – Newcastle United, battling for their top-flight survival on the pitch, have suffered a serious blow to their image off it after an employment tribunal ruled that their former Argentina midfielder Jonas Gutierrez had been dropped from the team because he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Gutierrez, who joined Newcastle in 2008, helped the club avoid relegation with a goal on the final day of the 2014-15 season, one of only 10 appearances following his initial cancer diagnosis in October 2013.
Until then he had been a regular and sued Newcastle over the way he was treated thereafter, claiming the Premier League club saw him as a liability after he returned from treatment.
Gutierrez, now playing for Deportivo La Coruna in Spain, was suing the club for about £2 million on the grounds of disability discrimination. He says he was told he would not be part of first-team plans just two weeks after his return from cancer treatment.
The Argentinian, who was hugely popular with Newcastle’s fans, claimed that Newcastle’s management ensured he failed to make enough appearances to trigger a contract extension worth up to £2 million. He claimed he was frozen because of his illness.
The tribunal found that Gutierrez was discriminated against following his diagnosis and subsequent return to fitness as it deemed he was considered part of the club’s plans right up to the point of his absence. The ruling stated that he “had maintained his place in the starting line-up without difficulty for five years.”
“Just over two weeks after the claimant returned to the club in November 2013 following his diagnosis and treatment, and at a point when he was match fit and returning to action he was told that he no longer featured in the club’s future plans. We conclude that the decision to drop the claimant was because of the claimant’s cancer.”
Newcastle say they are “dismayed” by the judgement and are considering further options with their legal team. Further claims of unfavourable treatment and another of harassment related to disability were dismissed but Gutierrez’s barrister Martin Budworth said: “The tribunal has made it clear that a Premier League football club owes the same duties to a disabled person as any other employer.”
Gutierrez’s lawyer, Carol Course, added: “Having battled cancer on two occasions and subsequently suffered unfair treatment by the club as a result of this, Jonas is pleased that the employment tribunal has today found in his favour and held that he was indeed discriminated against by Newcastle United due to his cancer diagnosis and treatment.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1714716364labto1714716364ofdlr1714716364owedi1714716364sni@w1714716364ahsra1714716364w.wer1714716364dna1714716364