William Hill to Pay £70 Thousand to Fired Exec After Discredited Pub Assault Claim
Posted on: June 20, 2025, 07:17h.
Last updated on: June 20, 2025, 09:03h.
- Tribunal: No evidence assault by William Hill exec occurred
- Investigation flawed, led by conflicted manager not HR
- Police reviewed pub footage, found no inappropriate conduct
William Hill UK will have to cough up almost £70K to a former executive it fired for an alleged sexual assault. That’s after an employment tribunal determined there was no evidence that the assault occurred.
The tribunal found that William Hill unfairly dismissed Joe Tobin, formerly the Head of Search at its London office, after conducting a “flawed” investigation into a co-worker’s allegations against him.
William Hill accused Tobin of “gross misconduct” after the co-worker alleged that he had run his arm down her back to her buttocks several times and also put his fingers in her mouth and laughed.
This was alleged to have occurred on June 20, 2024, in a packed pub in London’s Soho district, where colleagues had gathered to watch England play Denmark in the European Championships.
Personal Conflict
The tribunal criticized William Hill’s investigation into the alleged misconduct, noting it was led by Tobin’s line manager, Alex Carr — with whom Tobin had a history of personal conflict — instead of a neutral, independent HR professional.
Carr failed to request security video from the bar that might have exculpated the accused. Tobin, who said he felt “physically sick” after learning of the allegations, visited the pub himself to request the tape, but was told it was company policy to release security footage only to the police or a lawyer.
Tobin asked that the bar save the footage, which would normally have been wiped after 30 days.
Tobin’s accuser took her allegations to the police on Aug. 10, 2024, over seven weeks after the incident was purported to have occurred. Because of Tobin’s intervention, police were able to review the video from the bar. They concluded there was no evidence that any inappropriate behavior or an assault had occurred.
The only witness to the alleged misconduct gave conflicting descriptions and was intoxicated, later vomiting because of the level of alcohol he had consumed. Despite a constant group presence at the bar, no one else witnessed the alleged “fingers in mouth” incident, the tribunal heard.
‘Weird Vibes’
Prior to the alleged incident, the accuser told several colleagues that Tobin gave her “weird vibes” and specifically asked them not to leave her alone with him at the event. However, she also acknowledged that he had never previously done anything inappropriate to her.
The tribunal heard that the two had a history of interpersonal tension, including a disagreement at the office Christmas party over the Israel-Palestine conflict, which may have contributed to the discomfort she described.
The tribunal judge described the police statement as “clear evidence” that the alleged incident did not occur and concluded that William Hill had breached the claimant’s contract by withholding his notice period payment.
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