I'm putting this here as the article refers to harmony being disturbed if somebody who doesn't gel with the existing workforce is employed. So, somebody who doesn't 'fit in'...somebody where everybody else has to refrain from eating bacon sandwiches, for example...
Football fans can be rejected from job if they support rival team, judge says
An employment judge has ruled that people can legally be rejected from a job if they support a rival football team to existing staff.
Judge Daniel Wright said employers were entitled to base recruitment choices on whether an incoming colleague could "damage office harmony" by not supporting the same team.
Wright ruled that a boss would not be breaking employment law if, for example, they were to turn down an application from a Tottenham fan because the office was full of Arsenal fans.
It came after a woman took legal action after she didn't get a job with a marketing agency because she didn't "vibe" with her interviewer.
Maia Kalina claimed she was the victim of discrimination because she wasn't outgoing and didn't enjoy going to the pub.
But Wright dismissed her claims and said employers had the right to consider whether a prospective employee would get on well with existing staff.
"There may be times when it is perfectly lawful for an employer to decide that somebody just will not be a fit with the team and that therefore it would be difficult to work together," he said.
"An example of this could be a small company where everybody who works in the office is an ardent supporter of Arsenal football club, and they decide to pick an Arsenal fan at interview over a similarly qualified Tottenham Hotspur season ticket holder because they do not want to damage the harmony of the office.
"The decision there would be lawful (albeit taking the example to the extreme would not necessarily be good for business).
And who is going to ever employ Millwall supporters?!!
England
news.sky.com
