to be estastic that McCririck has decided to take his claim for ageism to court?

[RedToothbrush]

McCririck spoke out last October at the time of the decision, which he blamed on ageism.

And he said in a statement released on Wednesday: "Channel 4 and production company IMG Sports Media were yesterday each served a letter before action for age discrimination.

"After 29 years with Channel 4 Racing, on a rolling annual contract, I have been sacked without any consultation or cogent explanation. I am 72.

"For loss of future earnings, unfair career damaging, public humiliation, stress and mental anguish, I will be seeking £500,000.

"Ageism is illegal. For tens of thousands of employees it has become the feared scourge of our society.

"This litigation should prove to be a watershed. There's no upper limit to the amount of damages employment tribunals can award under the Equality Act 2010 .

"I am seeking a further exemplary, punitive £2.5m, part of which will be donated to charitable organisations helping to prevent negative prejudice in the workplace."

I can not wait for the verdict on that one! Anyone know a recipe for humble pie served up with a good dollop of irony for quoting the equality act?

Is your point his famously not seeing women as equal?

Suddenly equality is important?

I'd have thought Channel 4 would have a very acceptable defense if they said they sacked him because he's a complete git.

My point is, in recent years, he's carved a career out of doing exactly that to women and that it is perfectly understandable way C4 no longer wanted to be associated with that image. He's deliberately cultivated a larger than life obnoxious persona and has benefited financially for doing so.

It doesn't matter if he was 30 or 72, his behaviour was putting the channel in an increasingly difficult position. Potentially they were at risk of getting sued by for it.

For him to put forward an argument like this, he should frankly get laughed out of court.

He is a vile vile vile man.........revolting and just yuck!!!

He'll have a job proving he was sacked because of his age. He's an awful man.

He's a disgusting man isn't he? Very similar to jimmy savile with his eccentricities.

I sincerely hope he loses and that it comes out that he wasn't sacked for being old, but purely and simply for being an enormous git with all the redeeming qualities of a slag heap.

£500,000 for all that? He'd be unlikely to get £50,000 for his injury to feelings, can't comment on how much he earns obviously.

Exemplary damages? He's having a laugh. They are only available in very limited circumstances in the UK, where the compensation is not enough punishment and the employer's conduct is either "oppressive, arbitrary or unconstitutional action by servants of the government" (perhaps they're going for this as it's Channel 4) or "calculated to make a profit which could exceed the compensation otherwise payable to the claimant" (which I really don't see how it works at all).

Anyway, it's not illegal. It's UNLAWFUL, you nasty man. Reckon he's just after the publicity but that could backfire.

I struggle to feel any sympathy for him and I'm quite old too. He's a throwback to misogynistic past. I don't know one woman who doesn't find him deeply unattractive and creepy. Perhaps C4 want to keep the female audience?

I think there may be more to this though, as I believe Channel 4 racing have sacked a number of older presenters, with lots of racing experience, in favour of younger presenters. Not defending him, but I do not believe they have been particularly fair to several of those involved.

Thing is though they replaced him with Clare Balding. Who is a woman in her fourties with a long track record of presenting on the BBC (and probably was the the only other leading racing presenter currently on TV atm). Its not like there was a whole lot of other people out there with a CV as good even amongst older people.

They are hardly putting in someone in to be blunt about it 'for the totty factor'. And its also not a similar situation to the one that got criticised on Time Team (a young woman who did have a very good CV but was unknown to the public replacing a much older guy who also wasn't particularly well kept). It was precisely because of McCririck's conduct that he was actively disliked. Not his age.

If C4 want to make racing attractive to a wide audience, then McCririck wasn't the one to do that, as he simply wasn't respected by large parts of the general public and that alienated them from potentially watching racing on TV. And that was of his own making. No one forced him to be a sexist and disrespectful pig.

The problem is, if C4 did sack him with no warning then they could be in the shit. They should have really covered their arses with a few written warnings or some such so they could prove they had tried to sort the situation out before being forced to get rid of him. In spite of him being a massive git there is a chance he could win this case, which would be absolutely galling.

Not necessarily if the decision was based on his public image.

Even if he was informed, then he couldn't change his image that easily. And thats about protecting the reputation of the channel. If they had simply done a review of that and their duty to viewers, I bet they could get round it quite easily.

(and in all honesty, given his lack of respect for rules that he displayed whilst on Big Brother I'd be inclined to say, it wouldn't have made the blindest bit of difference if they had of told him. It wouldn't have surprised me if they had. Don't forget he was making money out of it on C4 and later C5. Whilst I appreciate that BB isn't 'real' I still think it was a conflict of interest and that he had a financial interest in being an arse. He's publicly made a point of saying he did BB for money and got more from that than presenting the racing).

They didn't actually sack him as such. They just failed to renew his contract.

Well, if they just didn't renew his contract, he has no argument IMO.

As for Clare Balding, I thought she was freelance and worked for whoever would have her. That way, she's free to do what she wants.

I didn't like McCririck either.

Clare Balding totty? She is a not-at-all-slim lesbian. She is, however, an outstanding horsewoman, winning jockey, has grown up in the racing world and knows everybody, and her bloodstock back to front. Sigh. If her partner doesn't want her, I'll marry her...

John McCririck was just egreriously nasty. Awful. He stopped being endearing ages ago. Sad, angry man.

Person with inside knowledge, what did they think of him on the team?

He's a vile mysonigist and his stints on reality shows just revealed him as even more vile and obnoxious.

He is not entitled to job no matter what. It is not C4's moral duty to employ an old twat just because he hasn't got another job to go to.

If they simply did not renew his contract which had come to an end, then they are in a strong position legally.

PS I LOVE Claire Balding. She is so likeable!

YANBU.
isn't he the one who has some bizarre, derogatory name for his wife?

Yes, he calls her Booby and treats her like a fucking slave.

Yes The Booby. He is a viiiiile man.

I take back what I said earlier. Having googled this, I think the other members of the team have left for a variety of reasons. Will be interesting to see what happens next.

Also, I wasn't referring to Clare Balding when I said younger presenters. There is a young, irritating bloke on who seems to be on all the time. Only know cos a friend is well into the racing, and made me sit through it at the weekend, whilst ranting about all the old presenters being sacked!

I don't want the mn lynch mob after me due to dissing Clare B!

Clare Balding totty? She is a not-at-all-slim lesbian

Does that mean she can't be totty? What does her being a lesbian have to do with anything?

I bet plenty of people fancy her.