For those who didn't know .. Our old pal, the galloping skipper was awarded £2 MILLION by an Employment Tribunal for the unfair dismissal from his £24,000 a week job with Derby County.
The 'offence' leading to his sacking ? .. he was not wearing a seatbelt whilst being driven by a one time teammate in a car that was involved in a well publicised crash. The crash resulted in a serious knee injury to Keogh who was subsequently unable to play for Derby for several weeks whilst (presumably) still expecting to be paid his wages instead of SSP.
Derby County, as you might expect, are appealing the Tribunal's decision.
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Whilst he should have known better (being in the car and being club captain) and earns a ridiculously high wage, he was not the driver and I think it was wrong to sack him.
A large fine would have been more appropriate.
They sacked one player who wasnt driving, kept two players who were driving a car and were the reason behind the crash
How do you defend that?
They basically got rid of one because he had no value, kept the others because they still do
https://www.htafc.com/news/2021/january/transfer-richard-keogh-signs-for-the-season/
Well if thats a four year deal then its up this summer, meaning he could yet leave for nothing
On top of having to pay Richard Keogh £2m it may well have been cheaper for Derby to have sacked all three
Bet on that basis, Keogh wouldnt have a leg to stand on if he was trying to appeal
I'd be absolutely shocked if Derby expected to win this, I'm sure they have sought legal advice well over and above my rudimentary knowledge but there never seemed to be a genuine case against him that was going to stick in court. Part of me wonders if they thought he'd settle out of court but he's called their bluff and taken it all the way.
When you consider there were two other employees involved who arguably did the same if not worse and weren't dismissed it never looked great. And from what I understand they essentially sacked him after he refused to take a pay cut which again doesn't really help their case, kind of looks like they wanted to save some money as he couldn't play, he's refused so they've sacked him. I'm sure any employment lawyer would have a field day with that.
I'd love to know what the final bill was for Derby taking into account all their legal expenses as well. I suspect it's significantly more than it would have been if they'd just kept him on and let him go at the end of his contract or let him find another club.
Looks like an expensive mistake and at a terrible time as well judging by their financial position at the moment.
Derby should be looking at their HR Department or whoever decided that this was a good idea!
The bloke shouted “Fancy a Jäger?!” and Keogh started pissing himself.