Damien Burke v The Harrow Club

Facts

The respondent, The Harrow Club, runs youth clubs in London. The claimant, Damien Burke, worked as a youth worker at its club in Old Oak, West London for at least 13 years, for 14 hours a week. On the evening of 10 July 2023 two young people, A and B, were involved in an altercation in three stages: an incident inside the club, a second stage outside captured on CCTV in which the claimant intervened, and a third fight away from the club, which the claimant neither saw nor was captured on CCTV, in which A was punched in the face and lost a tooth. A returned to the club bleeding; the claimant gave him tissue to wipe away the blood and went outside with him to look for the tooth. After Police and local authority designated officer investigations, the respondent began an internal investigation. The claimant's initial statement omitted A's return to the club. He faced three disciplinary charges — failing to follow the safeguarding and Serious Youth Violence Incident Procedure by not reporting the incident, administering first aid without training, permission or notifying a trained first aider, and dishonesty in his initial statement. All three were upheld and he was summarily dismissed; his appeal failed. Employment Judge Glennie, sitting at London Central, dismissed his unfair dismissal complaint. He appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.